WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) - A doctor at a U.S. base at the South Pole carried out a delicate knee operation using video and radio links to a surgeon in Boston, officials said Wednesday.
The operation to repair a damaged tendon in the knee of meteorologist Dar Gibson was carried out by Amundsen-Scott Base doctor Timothy Pollard earlier this month, the United States Antarctic Program said in a written statement.
The operation was monitored and directed by orthopedic surgeon Bertram Zarins and anesthesiologist Vicki Modest by video and radio link from Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, the statement said.
Gibson is recovering and has begun physical therapy.
It was the third time in four years that a medical emergency has struck the U.S. base, where 51 people are working.
The linkup between the South Pole and Boston was organized by Raytheon Polar Services, the U.S. company that provides logistical support for the United States' McMurdo Station and the South Pole base from the southern New Zealand city of Christchurch.
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