In a rare surgery, a 60-year-old woman having developed complete bone deformity successfully underwent a complex surgery making her capable to walk again, hospital authorities said here Friday.
The deformity of Rajesh Devi, a resident of Jhajjar in Haryana, had kept her bed-ridden for over a year.
She suffered from advanced osteoarthritis and severe osteoporosis because of which the bones of her knee permanently deformed and bent over 90 degrees.
The condition worsened to the level that Devi could not even bear her own weight and had to force herself to crawl on her arms for her basic needs.
Vivek Logani, chief of the Joint Replacement Surgery at Paras Hospital, after examining Devi's bone condition said she had tight contracture of the muscles and soft tissues on the back of the knee, leaving the joint completely deformed.
Tehncially, knee replacement in cases of flexion deformity of about 100-110 degrees, is a highly difficult procedure. A flexion deformity is an inability to straighten the knee, he said.
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However, Logani along with Deepak Thakur, Consultant Joint Replacement decided to take up her case.
In a procedure, that lasted five hours the surgeons performed soft tissue releases and ligament balancing to accomplish one of the very complex knee replacement procedures on both the knees to correct the deformity.
The doctors said the procedure was successful with 80-90 percent of the deformity corrected during operation and further correction planned during post-operative rehabilitation.
"The patient was advised excercises after the surgery. She started walking on the second post-operative day," said Logani.
"Her muscle strengthening is progressing and on the fifth post-operative day following surgery, she was walking comfortably. Both her knees were straight, free of pain and deformity, and were bearing the full weight of her body," he added.