New Delhi: In rarest of the rare cases, doctors at AIIMS conducted a rare joint-replacement on a 20-year old man which gave him a new lease of life.
Touted to be the second such case in the world, this rare quadruple joint replacement surgery enabled the man walked after more than a decade.
The first such surgery -- which was considered impossible until a few years ago due to the high risk involved -- was also performed at AIIMS in 2013.
It all started after Guddu -- resident of Bihar -- developed pain in his right foot which, due to ignorance and lack of proper medical facility, spread to the ankle, shin and knee.
With improper diagnosis at local health institutions, the problem initially remained confined to the right leg but later spread to the other leg as well. As time progressed, Guddu`s knee joints bent at 90 degrees, making it impossible for him to walk.
Anxious to get their son cured, Guddu`s parents continued his treatment at local hospitals in the rural areas of Bihar, which not only cost them more than Rs five lakh but a further delay that led to the pain spreading to both his hip joints, which left him unable to even sit.
Medical science categorises such cases under Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA) -- inflammation of the joints that starts before the age of 16. Some types of JIA can cause serious growth problems and eye inflammation.
Treatment of JIA focuses on controlling pain, improving function and preventing joint damage.
After suffering for over 10 years and facing difficulty in getting proper diagnosis in Bihar, the patient was moved to the Delhi-based AIIMS in May 2016, where the doctors diagnosed the problem to be JIA. However, though the malady was now correctly diagnosed, Guddu`s joints were completely deformed by then.
(With Agency inputs)
