A 28-year-old man from Parbhani has suffered from loss of blood supply to his hip joint, a manifestation of sickle cell anaemia. Doctors at St. George Hospital where he was treated said the patient had been unable to walk for the last three months but after treatment, he could stand on his feet.
Dilip Chavan, a journalist, started suffering from body pain in 2007. He consulted doctors in his home town but they treated it like a regular bone and joint pain. It was in 2013 that Mr. Chavan’s condition was diagnosed as sickle cell anaemia by a doctor in Latur, and he began the accurate treatment.
Sickle cell anaemia is a blood disorder caused by an inherited abnormal haemoglobin that causes distorted red blood cells. The disorder is managed by drugs and bone marrow transplant in some cases. While Mr. Chavan was on drugs, the disorder had led to compromised blood supply to his right hip joint.
“He developed a condition called avascular necrosis, wherein the bone’s tissue goes bad due to lack of blood supply. We diagnosed his condition and put him on medication,” Dr. Madhurkar Gaikwad from St. George hospital said.
“When the patient came to us on December 13, he was walking with the support of three of his relatives. When we discharged him on Wednesday, he walked on his own feet,” Dr. Gaikwad, who is also the medical superintendent of the hospital, said. Dr. Gaikwad said sickle cell anaemia is hereditary but Mr. Chavan’s three-year-old son has not inherited the disease.
Mr. Chavan said his home town lacked good medical facilities and he had no choice but to come all the way to Mumbai for treatment. “So many patients like me suffer due to lack of facilities. I am glad that I could come to Mumbai,” he said.
