Navi Mumbai: Western India’s firstrobotic knee replacement surgery held in Vashi

After bearing immense pain for the last seven years, 72-year-old Sharad Chalke from Navi Mumbai got a new lease of life with the robotic cruciateretaining knee replacement surgery, the first ever in western India.

The surgery was performed by a team of orthopaedic specialists headed by Dr Pramod Bhor, who is the head of department at Fortis Hiranandani Hospital, Navi Mumbai.

After retiring in 2010, Chalke, also a professional yoga teacher, continued his yoga practice. However, with increasing age, he started facing deformities in both knees, making daily activities difficult.

The pain aggravated in the last eight months, making knee movement difficult and painful for him. Dr Pramod Bhor said this surgery ensures better results for the patient as there is significantly less post-operative pain, less blood loss and less revisions are required as the implants in the knee can last up to 25yrs.

He added, “Further, with the operation being conducted by a robotic arm, there is no handholding required by the surgeon as the machine can perform the cuts with minimum bone loss with submillimetre precision. The machine requires minimum human interference.”

Dr Bhor said that before the operation, everything is planned out to the last minute, which means that the operative time is also effectively reduced, minimising risk of complications.

A much-relieved Chalke said, “I have lived with knee pain for a very long time. With age, I had accepted that knee pain would never go away. I was also scared of the pain after the surgery, so I was hesitant about getting it done. But all these myths were broken by the robotic surgery.”

This surgery is a stepping stone in orthopaedic care for doctors and patients. It will help patients recover faster while reducing expenses on postsurgery care and medicines on one hand, and enable doctors to perform surgeries with minimum risks on the other hand, Dr Bhor added.