A feat of joint replacement

October 31, 2013 11:33 am | Updated 11:33 am IST - MADURAI:

Four joint replacement surgeries were performed at the Government Rajaji Hospital here in a single day on Tuesday.

Two knee replacement surgeries on osteoarthritis patients and two hip replacement surgeries on patients with fractured hip bone were performed by the arthroplasty unit free of cost under the Chief Minister’s Insurance Scheme. The patients — Indira (52), Mariammal (69), Mahaboob Basha (37) and Asokan (48) — are recuperating. “In the last one-and-a-half years, we have performed over a hundred joint replacement surgeries. Earlier four surgeries were performed in a week, but this is the first time that four surgeries were performed in a single day,” Dr.L.D. Thulasiram said at a press meet on Wednesday.

“We wanted to give the poor patients the gift of painless walk before Deepavali and achieved it,” Dr.Thulasiram said. The imported joints were made of an alloy of aluminium and nickel and the equipment used for the surgery included an ‘oscillating saw’, he added.

“People are reluctant to come forward for joint replacement surgeries. They should understand that the surgery will make their life better by easing their discomfort,” said Dean N. Mohan.

Through another surgery, an ‘omental cyst’ weighing nearly 10 kg was removed from the stomach of a man who was admitted to the GRH. The patient, N. Seeniramapullai, a sweet stall owner from Kovilpatti, had a swollen stomach and underwent an operation on Tuesday. “Till 2011, only 150 people have been diagnosed with this condition and have been operated upon,” said Dr.Selva Chidambaram.

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