Unique Navigated Knee Replacement: A First in East

By Tricitynews

Chandigarh 22^nd June:- A 63-year old English school teacher from Gariahat, Riddhima Chatterjee (name changed), was in an acute knee pain for more than 8 years. Symptoms of knee arthritis were clear and the condition worsened gradually over years. The intensity of pain increased so much that she couldn’t continue everyday work including walking; climbing stairs and she virtually dragged her for past one year.

With increased stiffness and decreasing daily mobility, she looked for reassurance of a successful knee surgery which would put her back on a reasonably pain-free existence, she recalls. Therefore, she scouted for a solution, not for the reason of lack of skill but the fact that her arthritis was a complication of a pre-existing injury which had left her thigh bone bent and united in a crooked fashion after an accident which she met almost 20 years ago in 1997.

Fast forward. Hence when things were simply unmanageable for Mrs. Chaterjee the family decided to consult Dr. Vikash Kapoor at Medica. Seeing the x-ray reports and severe destruction of the knee joint associated with progressive pain and impaired function, Dr. Kapoor recommended a knee replacement surgery so that her pain could be alleviated.
She underwent a computer navigation assisted cemented total knee replacement surgery at Medica Superspecialty Hospital on December 15, 2017. Computer-assisted surgeries (CAS) are used to improve the positioning of implants during the total knee replacement. Ms. Chatterjee underwent the surgery, usually a 4.5 hour long tedious operation, performed by the orthopaedic surgeon, Dr. Vikash Kapoor and his team in just one hour.  Even though the doctors recommended of releasing her in just 3 days, she urged them and increased her stay for total of 6 days.

Dr. Vikash Kapoor, Vice-Chairman and Group Director – Orthopaedics, Medica Group of Hospitals , explained that her fracture had united in a bent position hence the alignment of her knee was grossly distorted. There was no option to correctly do total knee replacement (TKR) but to use navigation, explained.  He shared further that patients are now achieving recovery a lot quicker than ever before. We encouraged Mrs. Chatterjee to get all her concerns addressed before the surgery.

Further explaining the advantages of this navigated case, he added that the knee replacement was done without having to realign the old wrongly united fracture. He said that the knee could survive better and function better as it is well aligned with the axis of the hip. Navigation cost per knee is around Rs 50,000-Rs 55, 000.

The rehabilitation procedure for her has been as expected. She could fold her knees after 24 hours of the surgery and she started getting up and walking on her own after three days. Within few more days after reaching home she resumed climbing stairs.

Kavita Roy, Director, Department of Physical Therapy & Rehabilitation, Medica Superspecialty Hospital, said that currently the patient has been recovering well and further advised to continue exercises as per the knee replacement surgery rehab protocol. Physical therapy is an essential part of rehabilitation after total knee replacement.

Riddhima Chatterjee. Being a workaholic person, said that many exercises were suggested to her. She is doing it all diligently. She shall visit her doctor again in September, Mrs Chatterjee, a school teacher on an extension, wasn't keen on sitting back home. She joined school after 2 months, to the surprise of all her colleagues. They were surprised to see how much comfortable she is now as if life has gone back by a few years.

Kuntal Chatterjee, Mrs. Riddhima Chatterjee’s husband said that Riddhima’s shoes, her frenzied possessions, collected from all across the world, sat inside the closet for years together. At times, she used to open the closet to clean and keep all the shoes back in their places. He could see the pain in her eyes as she closed the closet. The pain of having such beautiful pair of shoes but not being able to wear any.