THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A patient who was suffering from hip pain for the last 18 years following a kidney transplantation successfully underwent a total hip replacement at Ernakulam Medical Trust Hospital.
The patient, Shamsudeen, an auto driver from Karunagapally, Kollam, had a kidney transplantation 20 years ago. He began suffering from pain which started due to the avascular necrosis of hip. It is a condition where blood circulation to hip is affected due to the drugs he had taken for kidney problems.
He had earlier postponed a surgery in fear of damaging the transplanted kidney. His leg became short by about three inches and he started limping badly. Pain became very severe over past few years and for the past few months he had been using crutches and was unable to work.
He underwent a total hip replacement on May 29. The surgery was performed by Dr Bipin Theruvil and Dr Dinesh C M was the anaesthetist.The hip had sustained severe damage over the past 18 years and one of the main risk in the hip replacement is dislocation. The doctors decided to go for dual mobility hip replacement. This works by having two balls in the hip rather than one which is traditional. Hence, the risk of dislocation is minimised.
This is the first time that this type of hip replacement is has been done in Kerala. As per the doctors, this process is useful in patients with neuromuscular problems like poliomyelitis, hip fractures and in revision hip replacements where the risk of dislocation is deemed high.
Most patients after replacements need to avoid some positions like squatting due to the high risk of dislocation. One of the other challenges was the possibility of infection in the replaced hip due to immunosuppressants that the patient had been taking for the transplanted kidney. The doctors adjusted the dosage of drugs so that the risk of infection was minimised without posing any problems to the damaged kidney. The hospital authorities said that the patient is now mobilising full weight and added that he could get back to his job as a driver in about three months time.
