Surgeons perform double hip surgery at Apollo

Jubilee Hills: Orthopaedic surgeons at Apollo Health City, Jubilee Hills, led by Dr P Sharat Kumar, consultant orthopaedic surgeon, provided succour to a 53-year-old patient, Mukhtar Hilowli, by performing a double hip replacement using the latest minimally invasive procedure – the Direct Hip Anterior, for the first time in India.  

The fusing of hips joints led to his hips losing the natural manoeuverability and made his day to day life miserable. He had an abnormal gait on account of this, which made movement on his two legs arduous. His normal routine was impaired during the prime of his life and had to endure the trauma for the last 31 years.

According to Dr Sharat, the conversion of a fused hip joint is extremely complex and challenging, due to excess blood loss, poor bone and soft tissue quality and difficulty in orientation as evidence of joint surface is completely obliterated. As the joints had fused more than 3 decades ago, the surgery itself was quite demanding.

In a first of its kind in India, Dr Sharat used the latest and minimally invasive procedure -Direct anterior approach. This is considered the most preferred choice in hip surgery off-late, globally. The conventional approach involves making a long incision and cutting muscle that support and stabilize hip joint. While in direct anterior approach, the muscles are separated to reach and expose the hip joint through a 3 to 4-inch incision on the front of the hip. 

He selected this approach as the patient’s strength was poor around his hips and the joint stability would be further compromised by the conventional approach. Also pain and bleeding is relatively less and rehabilitation is quicker. The patient has since recovered well and is undergoing physiotherapy and rehabilitation.