Shoulder implants, keyhole surgery for hip joints now a reality

Creaking joints in the hip and knee could easily be replaced by orthopaedic surgeons, but for a very long time, those with arthritis in the shoulder had to treat it with painkillers or other medicines. Now there is a solution for them as well – a shoulder joint replacement. The shoulder arthoplasty was never done previously as the shoulder joint is a complex and hyper-mobile one, said S Arumugam, Professor and Head of Department of Arthroscopy and Sports Medicine.

“The modern prosthetic replicates the same action as the original joint, and offers more stability,” he said. The cost might be a little steep – the implant alone costs Rs 1 lakh, apart from the surgery charges, said Arumugam.

Another breakthrough surgery that has been done is the keyhole surgery on the hip joint. He said, “This too has been a tricky surgery for specialists so far, but the technique has now been perfected. Patients usually suffer in pain or just take painkillers. With these advancements, I would advise them to seek the help of a doctor to live a pain-free life.”

These techniques and live demonstrations on the latest surgical developments were demonstrated at the fifth annual conference of the Indo European Arthroscopy/Arthoplasty Foundation (IEAAF) held in the Sri Ramachandra University campus in Porur. The three day conference covered a gamut of procedures including hip arthroscopy, shoulder instability, rotator cuff repair and knee, shoulder and hip arthoplasty.

Inaugurating the conference, Dr Alex Fievez, Medical Director, Medinova Clinic, Rotterdam, said that in the last decade of his association with India, the standard of care had gone up. “Indian surgeons are almost on par with their international counterparts in the way they look after their patients,” he said, adding that the scope of orthopaedic surgery has increased and had the potential to help more people now that it was accessible.