Client Story:
Ms. Lalita Agarwal, a resident of Nepal suffered a fracture of her thigh bone femur many years ago. She was operated for treatment of the fracture. A metal plate was fixed with screws on the length of her femur [thigh bone]. Her fracture healed well, but long plate which helped her fracture heal and also supported her bone remained in her thigh. She resumed a normal life again.
However, at the age of 55, she began to suffer pain in her knee because of osteoarthritis. The cartilage between her long bones in the knee was worn out. She consulted her doctors who prescribed pain relievers and she felt better.
But osteoarthritis is a gradually progressive disease. As the years went by, slowly the pain in her knees began to increase. Progressive X-Rays showed how the space between the two bones of the knee joint, the femur and the tibia [leg bone], was gradually reduced.
Finally, the X-Ray of her knee taken in March 2018 showed that the two bones of her knee joint, femur and tibia, were almost in contact with each other. The joint space, which represents the cartilage in healthy knees, was almost gone. Ms. Lalita’s pain was unbearable.
She consulted orthopedic surgeons in Nepal and India and all advised a total knee arthroplasty [TKA] surgery which is also known as Total Knee Replacement [TKR] surgery. But there was a major problem. The plate in her thigh would obstruct TKR surgery. So although all orthopedic surgeons Ms Lalita consulted gave the same opinion that she needed TKR surgery to permanently cure her knee pain; all also said that the total knee replacement surgery could not be done as long as her fracture repair plate remained attached to her femur. All surgeons advised that the fracture plate would have to be removed before TKA surgery.
Usually, in such cases, the metal plates are left in the body forever. Removing such a large plate is major surgery and has its own risks.
Dr. Dhiraj Marothi conducts OPD clinics at Kolkata. On the advice of family friends, Ms. Lalita consulted Dr. Dhiraj Marothi in Kolkata.
He examined the case and did some research on it and finally came with a solution. He would do TKR without touching the previously fitter metal plate! He explained what he planned to do to Ms. Lalita and her relatives. Looking at Dr. Dhiraj Marothi’s wide experience in the field of TKR, Ms. Lalita agreed for a single TKR surgery without moving the plates. Dr. Marothi operated on her knee in Asian Bariatric Hospital in Ahmedabad in March 2019. A month after her surgery, Ms. Lalita was able to walk comfortably without pain.