Knee arthroscopic surgery in Sharda Hospital, Greater Noida

Sharda Hospital’s first Arthroscopic Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) Reconstruction was performed by Dr Ajay, Assistant Professor, Department of Orthopaedics under the guidance of Prof. Dr. B. K. Dhaon on 10-12-2011.
The patient Kripa Shankar Choubey a 48 Yrs old male sustained injury to his right knee in a road traffic accident, when he fell from a motor bike on 04-12-2011. The patient was diagnosed to be having ACL Tear with comminuted fracture of tibial spine of right knee. The patient was admitted and planned for arthroscopy of right knee which showed empty lateral wall sign which is diagnostic of an ACL tear along with this there was comminuted fracture of Tibial spine. Considering the nature of these injuries, ACL Reconstruction was performed.

What is Arthroscopic Surgery?
Arthroscopy is the advanced field of Orthopaedics which is also termed as “Keyhole surgery” very much like the laparoscopic surgeries. Arthroscopy is required in patients having ligament injuries of various joints e.g. knee, shoulder, elbow, ankle, hip etc. These injuries are sustained during sports like football, rugby, cricket etc and road traffic accidents.
In this technique the inside of a joint is visualized using Arthroscopes (a type of endoscope) and  the damage to the structures inside the joint are assessed e.g. ligaments, cartilage, bones etc. these are minimally invasive procedures which requires only small incisions for entry of arthroscope and instruments. This technique requires high degrees of surgical skills as it requires a large learning curve.

What is ACL Reconstruction?
In this procedure the ACL is reconstructed using patient’s hamstring tendons namely Semi-T and gracilis. Arthroscopically the tunnels are made in the tibia and the femur. Through these tunnels the graft is passed inside the joint at a position where previous ACL was present. The new ligament is then fixed using screws in Femur and Tibia.  After the surgery the patient’s limb is put on a knee brace and ambulation is started using crutches the day after surgery. Patient has to wear brace and use crutches for 3-4 weeks during which time the patient has to perform regular physiotherapy so that normal strength of the knee is regained.

The brace and crutches are discarded after 3-4 weeks. The physiotherapy continues for further six months. At 3-4 months light jogging on plain surface is allowed. The patient usually resumes his pre-injury activity level at the end of 6-7 months.

Why Sharda hospital for Arthroscopy?

• The surgeon with expertise and skills in Arthroscopy is available.
• Equipments required for Arthroscopic surgeries is available.
• Low cost: similar type of surgery performed in a major Hospital in Delhi NCR region will cost close to Rs one (1) Lakh in contrast to Sharda Hospital where it can be performed in 25,000 Rs only.
• When this advanced mode of treatment is available at Sharda Hospital that too at a low cost, there will not be any need for patients of greater Noida to go to Delhi or Noida etc for their treatment.