Statistics give that while the average age of those requiring hip replacement surgeries in the West is 65 years, in Asia it is around 35 years. Out of these numbers, 70 percent of those requiring surgery are male.
People using steroids or those who have met with road accidents need hip replacement surgery. Asians are genetically prone to arthritis. At Apollo Hospital’s Asian Regional Center for Hip Resurfacing, the youngest patient as of now is a 12-year-old girl who complained of pain and inability to move.According to consultant orthopedic surgeon Vijay C. Bose, patients complain of pain after a long walk but it gradually progresses so that they have pain even while resting. Very few orthopaedic surgeons now remove the arthritic hip bone to relieve pain. One of the new methods is to introduce prosthesis without taking away the arthritic bone and to ensure that normal life is not compromised.
At the Asian Regional Center for Hip Resurfacing these procedures, known as Birmingham hip resurfacing (BHR) surgeries, are being done since 2000. “In the past seven years, Apollo has performed 1,000 BHRs and mid-hip resurfacing surgeries in contrast to the conventional 600 hip replacement surgeries,” says Dr.Bose.
Hip Resurfacing is a type of hip replacement which replaces the two surfaces of the hip joint. The procedure is very bone conserving as the head of the femur is retained. Instead of removing the head completely, it is shaped to accept an anatomically sized metal sphere. There is no large stem to go down the central part of the femur and the surface of the acetabulum (the socket) is also replaced with a metal implant, which is fit directly into the bone.
The resurfacing components are made of 'cast' cobalt chrome, which are finely machined to produce a very high quality surface with a low friction finish, hence low wear. The BHR device has the largest independently verified clinical history of any resurfacing device available today.
Source-Medindia
ANN/C
