New surgery for easy knee replacement

Surinder Rawat, a physical education teacher who had rheumatoid arthritis, got a new lease of life after doctors here performed a replacement surgery on both her knees using a new technology, a doctor said Tuesday.

Rawat, 68, who suffered knee pain for over four years, was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, a condition where the joint cartilage between the bones of the knee gradually wears away, degrades the lining of the joints and causes swelling that is painful and can lead to joint deformity in the affected joints.

Rawat wanted to walk without a walking stick.

"We used the new technology PSI (patient-specific instrumentation), which improves alignment and sizing by using computer-generated images of the patient anatomy to determine precise bone cuts and implant positioning during the surgery," said Raju Vaishya, senior consultant, joint replacement surgeon, Indraprastha Apollo Hospital.

According to doctors, the technology was introduced in India only a month ago.

"It has made miraculous changes in my lifestyle. I am convinced by the benefits, of the surgical procedure," Rawat said.

The advanced knee surgery enables lesser surgery time, lesser post-operative complications and recovery.

"Unlike the conventional knee replacement surgery, PSI reduced the blood loss during and after surgery and serious complications. As many operative steps are reduced in the technique, and excessive dissection is not required, the operative time or the knee replacement procedure which takes about three hours was reduced by half due to this new method," Vaishya said.

Doctors said nearly 20 to 30 crore people suffer from knee arthritis.

"Despite the large number of patients, the number of surgeries performed every year are comparatively low. This can be attributed to fear, lack of awareness and other apprehensions," Vaishya added.