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Bengaluru: Yemeni man's knee fixed after rare surgery

43-year-old underwent meniscus transplant.

Bengaluru: Probably for the first time in the state, a rare meniscus transplant surgery was performed by Sakra World Hospital on a 43-year-old Yemen patient, who had injured his knee two years ago while playing sports.

The surgery was performed two weeks ago by a team of doctors headed by Dr Chandrashekar P., Senior Consultant & HoD-Orthopaedics at Sakra World Hospital.

The meniscus transplant surgery is a rare and advanced surgery that is done in very few countries across the world. Meniscus is a thin fibrous cartilage tissue at knee joints. It prevents friction between the joints during movement. Since meniscus is a fibrous cartilage and is devoid of any blood supply and nerves, it cannot regenerate.

On the complexity of the surgery, Dr Chandrashekar said, “Meniscus tears can be repaired in selective cases, but where repair is not possible, removal of meniscus is the only option. When removing meniscus, the surgeon should be careful to remove as less as possible. In cases where meniscus has to be removed, more than 75 percent of patients suffer from cartilage damage in future as the cushioning effect of the knee joint is lost and leads to early wear and tear (arthritis).”

The 43-year-old Yemen patient, a football player, had got two surgeries done before, where more than 80% of his meniscus had to be removed. The doctors said that when the patient came to them, he complained of pain and investigations showed loss of over 80% inner meniscus. He had also started developing early cartilage (degenerative) damage due to very little meniscus remaining. The only option was to avoid further cartilage damage was to give a meniscus transplant, the doctors said.

The procedure was conducted using laparoscopy technique and the patient was discharged after two days of observation. “Post surgery, he is undergoing rehabilitation under proper guidance and had no transplant-related complications like allergy/rejection,” Dr Chandrashekar said.

The hospital has also launched Sakra Sports Injury Centre, which was inaugurated by Sunil Chhetri, captain of national football team and Bengaluru FC.

( Source : Deccan Chronicle. )
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