Doctors at the Government Hospital in Dharapuram have completed total knee replacement (TKR) surgeries for three patients, who were suffering from osteoarthritis, in March.
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P. Premalatha, Joint Director of Medical and Rural Health Services for Tiruppur district, said this was a rare achievement for a sub-district hospital. According to her, the first patient was a 54-year-old woman suffering from osteoarthritis on her left knee and underwent TKR surgery on March 2. A 54-year-old man diagnosed with osteoarthritis on his left knee was the second patient and he underwent surgery on March 9.
The third patient was a 57-year-old woman, who had osteoarthritis on her right knee and she underwent TKR surgery on March 30, she said. All these three surgeries were done free of cost as they were covered under the Chief Minister's Comprehensive Health Insurance Scheme.
“Each of these surgeries could have cost between ₹2 lakh and ₹3 lakh in private hospitals,” Dr. Premalatha said. She commended the team of doctors at the Dharapuram Government Hospital led by Chief Medical Officer S. Sivabalan and surgeons A. Navaneethan and Mahesh Marimuthu for completing the three surgeries successfully.