Knee replacement surgery designed for women

Kolkata, June 15: With a view to making the complicated knee replacement surgery safer and less painful for women, AMRI Hospital, Salt Lake, has introduced a unique knee, designed exclusively for them, the first of its kind in Eastern India.

Speaking at a press conference to announce this latest innovation in the field of Orthopaedics here yesterday, Dr Sanjay Bhattacharya said, ''We have implants shaped to fit the patients.'' He elaborated, ''The Zimmer Gender Solutions Hi-Flex NexGen Knee Replacement has been launched in Kolkata just months after its availability in the US. Initially, knee designs were universal, that is, the same implants for both men and women. However, differences of shape exist in the distal femur between men and women. With a universal knee, this often leads to soft tissue irritation and anterior knee pain in the case of women. These problems have been addressed with this new knee implant. Moreover, being designed to achieve flexion of upto 155 degrees, this knee will permit a patient to sit cross-legged should she wish to, while traditional designs allow flexion of only 130 degrees.'' Orthopaedic Surgeon Dr Joydeep Banerjee Choudhury said, ''Traditional knee replacement surgery involves an eight-ten inch incision over the front of the knee and a deep cut in the underlying thigh muscle. However, with Minimally Invasive Surgery (MIS), the skin incision is limited to only four inches. The advantages of this procedure include less post-operative pain, easier rehabilitation, less blood loss and less hospital stay.'' He claimed that the first Gender Solutions Knee Replacement using MIS in Eastern India was performed on June eight in AMRI Hospital by Dr Sanjay Bhattacharya.

He also claimed that this surgical procedure, which cost as much as USD 65,000, that is, about Rs 28 lakh, in the US, would cost only about Rs 1,70,000 here.

UNI