CHENNAI: As many as 20,165 total knee replacements were conducted under the Chief Minister’s Comprehensive Health Insurance Scheme between 2017 and 2021.
As per data of the State Health Department, 1,420 of these surgeries were done in government hospitals, and 18,745 were done in private hospitals, free of cost. Officials said about 25 per cent of the surgeries were done during the pandemic.
Further, the data highlights only about 18 of these surgeries (0.089 per cent) had complications that include implant failure and death. This means 99 per cent of the surgeries were successful. About 27 people required a reversion knee replacement surgery.
Meanwhile, Union Minister for State in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Bharati Pravin Pawar, in a reply to a question in Lok Sabha, said that the National Health Mission is providing support to the State to supplement efforts for setting up facilities for surgeries, as per norms and upgradation of existing facilities to bridge infrastructure and human resource gaps.