Chennai: Rare quadruple joint replacement surgery done on 23-year-old

Chennai: A rare quadruple joint replacement surgery was performed on a 23-year-old man diagnosed with Ankylosing Spondylitis and developed joint pain in his neck, hips, knees and back. Despite being a challenging procedure due to immobility, the replacement surgery on Amit Kar enabled him to stand and walk after more than four years.

Amit developed pain and stiffness in hips and knees until he was 16 years old, and his condition rapidly worsened in the next few months turning knees and hips inflexible and extremely painful making him completely immobilized. Later, he was diagnosed with Ankylosing Spondylitis, a condition that affects and destroys the spine and hips commonly and sometimes-other joints like knees and shoulders. Within days, he was deformed and was confined to his wheelchair making him completely dependent on others for his day-to-day activities.

Dr Arun Kannan, orthopaedic surgeon at Apollo Hospitals, who oversaw the treatment for Amit and decided to perform a rare quadruple joint replacement surgery, which is the replacement of four joints, both hips and both knees.

“The surgery was performed in two stages in two weeks. In the first stage, the right hip and right knee were replaced and in the second stage the left hip and left knee were replaced. Hip replacements were of the complex variety and required a technique called digastrics trochanteric osteotomy for safe completion.

His knees which were bent about 90 degrees were straightened during his knee replacement surgery with meticulous soft tissue balancing,” said Dr Arun Kannan. The patient has now recovered from the surgery and is undergoing rehabilitation therapy to help him regain muscle-tone and strength.