Apollo performs double hip replacement successfully on two African patients

Orthopaedic surgeons at Apollo Hospitals led by Dr Paripati Sharat Kumar, successfully performed double hip replacement in one sitting, on two patients from Africa.
The patients have since recovered and are all set to walk out of the Hospital on discharge, for their respective countries.

Mr Hillow Mohamed Hassano (66) from Kenya and Mr Mohamme Abdi (49) from Somali, are elated at being able to be on their feet, after undergoing bilateral hip replacements. Both patients came with a complaint of suffering from severe pain and stiffness in both hips due to osteoarthritis, leading to restricted mobility inspite of taking regular pain killers.

They came on wheel chairs to Apollo Health City and after thorough examination and investigations, underwent bilateral uncemented total hip replacement in one go. The improvements seen in anaesthesia, pain management, surgical techniques and implant design, in the recent years make performing of both hip replacements simultaneously much safer and are in turn patient friendly. Currently approximately 10 per cent of total knee replacements are bilateral and however less than 1 percent are bilateral total hip replacements.

According to Dr Sharat Kumar, there was convincing clinical evidence indicating simultaneous both hip replacements to be as safe as sequential hip replacements. There were multiple benefits and many patients would prefer to undergo both on same day and avoid another surgery and rehabilitation, thereby saving on significant time as well as overall cost of surgery. In the case of these two patients who came from a different country, performing two surgeries to replace one hip at a time, would have escalated the cost and prolonged their stay here, besides giving scope for complications and infections.

However patient selection is crucial as all patients are not suitable candidates and each one of them has to be considered on an individual basis in order to avoid complications, particularly in the elderly with multiple medical conditions.

Performing bilateral total hip replacements can be demanding and it is essential to have experience and familiarity in different types including cemented, uncemented and hybrid type of hip replacements, Dr Kumar said.