Indian doctors ‘make history’ with very rare surgery
A very rare surgery was successfully performed by doctors in Hyderabad to remove a shoulder tumour.
The surgery, in fact was performed six months back on 46 year old Padma. But now, she has achieved 160 degrees shoulder rotation- the highest that’s possible with such surgeries, as per the doctors. Doctors performed the advanced reverse shoulder replacement surgery on Padma at the Sai Institute of Sports Injury and Arthroscopy in Hyderabad.
A beautician by profession, Padma got diagnosed with malignant bone tumour of proximnal end of the humerus bone. After multiple tests and medical analysis, the decision was made that she should undergo the surgery involving ‘muscle transfer’- a somewhat recent innovation.
“Such a procedure has been successfully attempted very few times globally. If she was treated with routine conventional surgical techniques, she would not have been able to do routine activities such as lifting her arm, combing her hair and couldn’t have pursued her profession,” said Dr Raghuveer Reddy, the shoulder and knee surgeon, who led the surgery.
Due to the patient’s condition, it was imperative that both the tumour bone mass and the muscles that aid movement in the shoulder be removed fully. This procedure involved interchanging the positions of the ball joint and socket in the shoulder.
“A rounded metal ball was implanted in the location of the earlier socket and a plastic concave shell, that could fit in the round head of the ball, was implanted at the earlier ball location. This kind of interchanging procedure is called the reverse shoulder replacement,” said Dr. Reddy.
The doctor said that the muscle transfer was performed “to aid shoulder movement and was accomplished by transferring the chest wall muscle to the arm. This muscle transfer ensures external rotation of the arm.”
The two other patients who underwent the procedure elsewhere in the world accomplished just 150 and 120 degree rotation. This makes Padma’s surgery a great success.
In a report about the same, the Times of India termed the Hyberabadi doctors’ feat as making history.
Image credits: timesofindia.indiatimes.com