Apollo to open 22 knee centres

Apollo Group of Hospitals launched a new initiative – Apollo Knee Clinics – on Sunday. The first clinic was launched at Apollo’s Health City in Hyderabad by former New Zealand pace bowler Richard Hadlee.

“Apollo Knee Clinics will be launched in 22 locations across 12 locations, including five outside India in Sri Lanka, Mauritius, Bangladesh, Yeman and Kuwait, in the next couple of weeks,” Sangeetha Reddy, executive director of Apollo Hospitals, told mediapersons here.

The first set of six clinics – one each at Jubilee Hills, Hyderaguda, Secunderabad, and Kanchanbagh in Hyderabad, Karimnagar and Kakinada are operational from today. Each of the knee clinics will be manned by internationally-trained orthopaedic surgeons supported by a team of nurses, rehabilitation specialists and nutrition therapists.

Reddy said the hospital group had set up a stem cell research lab at an investment of Rs 4 crore in Hyderabad for peripheral vascular diseases, knee cartilage and two other areas.

“The process has been started with two patients at the lab,” she said, adding that sports medicine will be integrated with the knee centres in the next three to six months.