An advanced technique in knee replacement has helped arthritic people continue their routine activities. A city-based orthopaedic surgeon has been using the technique for nearly two decades, helping severely arthritic patients return to normal functional life within weeks.
“For an advanced arthritis of the knee total knee replacement is the only solution,” according to C. Lenin, chief orthopaedic surgeon and managing director of OI Orthoinde hospital. People hesitate to undergo replacement owing to prolonged recovery time, life of the implant and comfort after replacement. In conventional procedures, the cut on the knee includes the skin, thigh muscles and the quadriceps tendons. After fixing the implant the muscles are repaired but it takes several months for the wound to heal. Patients are offered physiotherapy, which is painful, he explained. “Though the surgeon may say, ‘stand up and walk’ the muscles do not cooperate,” he added.
Knee joints are known as modified hinge joints as they allow for some amount of rotational freedom that conventional implants do not provide. “After replacement the patient’s knee will not forget the rotational movement. When the knee rotates the bond between the implant and the bone breaks resulting in another surgery,” Dr. Lenin explained.
During his training in France he found surgeons there used a technique to allow free rotation of the knee. “The technology is simple. The implant mimics the knee. I could see follow up patients who underwent knee replacement 15-20 years ago. It means I can confidently do the surgery for patients in their early 50s also. Normally doctors would tell such patients to come for replacement in their 60s,” he said.
Also, the surgery is a minimally invasive procedure involving a 3-inch cut on the skin. The quadriceps muscles’ integrity is maintained, ensuring quick healing. “Once the skin heals after 10-15 days the patient is ready to do daily activities,” he added. He has testimonials from patients he operated on 15-20 years ago to prove his point. He has termed the procedure as ‘ideal knee replacement’ that uses rotating platform implant, muscle sparing approach. “Since we do not cut the muscle it doesn’t require prolonged physiotherapy. We teach the patients exercises in the hospital that they do for five days and then return home. For another five to ten days we support them with therapy and after 15 days they are free to do their activities,” he said.
With the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority capping the price of implants in 2017, the cost has fallen to a fifth of what it was earlier. The benefits are multifold as the hospital stay is also halved, explained the surgeon who has done around 8,000 to 9,000 procedures in the last two decades.
