Sassoon Hospital becomes first govt institute in Maha to perform robotic knee replacement
Sassoon General Hospital in Pune, India, has become the first government institute in Maharashtra to successfully perform a Robotic Total Knee Replacement surgery. The procedure was carried out on a 60-year-old patient and was a success. The surgery was performed free-of-cost and has several benefits over traditional surgeries, including increased perfection and alignment, minimal involvement of soft tissue, and early recovery.
PUNE: The Sassoon General Hospital (SGH) and B J Medical College (BJMC) Pune on Friday, September 15, issued a press note saying that it has achieved a major milestone, and become the first government institute in Maharashtra to successfully perform a Robotic Total Knee Replacement (TKR) surgery. The procedure was carried out on a 60-year-old patient last Friday, September 8, and was a success. The patient is recovering well and will be discharged soon, officials said.
The patient, Vijay Himmatrao Patil, a resident of Shirpur district in Dhule, was suffering from severe osteoarthritis of both the knees leading to severe pain and deformity. The patient is a known case of diabetes and hypertension. Patil underwent a robotically assisted TKR for the left leg on September 8. The procedure was performed free-of-cost, which would have otherwise cost at least ₹3.50 lakh at a private facility.
The surgery was performed with the ‘Cuvis’ Robot by Robotic Arthroplasty surgeons — Dr Pravin Deokate and Dr Rahul Puranik under the guidance of Dr Girish Barrtakke, head of the orthopaedic department at SGH. The team included Dr Manoj Todkar, Dr Pravin Londhe and Dr Ankit Solanki, the officials said.
Dr Sanjeev Thakur, dean of BJMC, said, “This is a great way to serve poor and needy patients by treating them with advanced surgeries such as Robotic Joint Replacement Surgery. This surgery is the first robotic surgery in any government institute of the state of Maharashtra.”
According to officials, robotic knee replacement surgeries have several benefits over traditional surgeries. The robot increases the perfection of the surgery, resulting in perfect alignment of the legs which ultimately leads to a higher success rate of the surgery. The minimal involvement of soft tissue during the surgery ultimately leads to early wound healing, less post-operative pain, and early recovery, said the doctors.
Patil said that because of financial constraints, it was impossible for him to get traditional knee replacement surgery. “I came to know about Sassoon Hospital, Pune from my relatives and that hip and knee joint replacement surgeries are done free-of-cost here. I am very happy and recovering fast with minimal pain,” he said.
