Orthoglide medial knee implant

Patients suffering from knee pain have a less invasive option offered by Dr.A.K.Venkatachalam in Chennai. He is one of the first surgeons in India and the first in Tamil nadu to offer knee resurfacing. He performed Tamil nadu’s first knee resurfacing on the 17th April at a Chennai hospital. The surgery was witnessed by orthopedic surgeons, doctors and medical students via a live web telecast.

Dr.Venkatachalam now joins the few selected orthopedic surgeons in the US and is among the first in India to offer this revolutionary procedure. Knee resurfacing is an inter positional arthroplasty for arthritis involving one of the three parts of the knee. Commonly as in this case it is done for inner compartment wear. It can also be done for outer compartment disease.

The ‘Orthoglide’ knee implant was designed by an American doctor. It has been implanted seven hundred times in the US and Europe. It received FDA approval in 2006.

This procedure is bound to be welcome from the thousands of patients with knee arthritis. In India, knee arthritis is very common.  It is very common in middle aged patients. Doctors treat this condition initially by painkillers, physical therapy and other supportive measures. When the pain fails to settle down with these measures, surgeons recommend surgery like partial, total knee replacement. However not every patient advised a total knee replacement chooses to undergo this common but major procedure. Apathy, apprehension and cost are the factors holding back the patient. A total knee replacement requires five days of hospitalization and a month of physical therapy. In this procedure, the surgeon scrapes worn out cartilage in the knee and caps the ends with metal prostheses using bone cement.

In a knee resurfacing, there is no bone removal. Cartilage is scraped away and a metal plate is interposed between the worn bony surfaces. Since the surgery is done by a smaller incision, blood loss is minimal, analgesic requirements are minimal and recovery is quicker.

 Because it is less invasive and preserves most of the patient’s natural knee, we expect patients to have relief from their pain, gain back their knee motion, and return to their daily activities more quickly says Dr.Venkatachalam, FRCS, M.Ch Orth who performed the first surgery on a sixty seven year old patient.

Dr.A.K.Venkatachalam is a joint replacement surgeon in Chennai. He performs hip, shoulder and knee resurfacing and replacements. For more information about knee replacement and resurfacing, please visit www.kneeindia.com. Dr. Venkatachalam can be reached at this e mail id,  drvenkat@kneeindia.com

Orthoglide knee resurfacing

Orthoglide implant

Orthoglide knee resurfacing

We will be shortly introducing a new concept in knee arthroplasty.  We shall be implanting a unicompartmental inter positional implant for a case of medial compartment arthritis.  The surgery is scheduled for later this month.

Orthoglide knee resurfacing

It received FDA approval in 2006. More than 300 implantations have occurred by one surgeon alone in the USA.

Orthoglide in bone model, front view

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Custom fit knee replacement

As more and more young patients undergo knee replacement, we are offering custom fit knee replacement to prolong the life &  success of the operation.
Two patients have undergone total knee replacements with the ‘Visionaire‘ patient specific instruments by Dr.A.K.Venkatachalam. Both are middle age ladies with severe osteo-arthritis and gross deformities. The surgeries were performed at the Chettinad super speciality hospital.

Just as every person is an individual, every knee is too The procedure offers several advantages to the patient, surgeon and hospital. For patients the advantages are

Patient benefits
Bone conservation –Customized bone cuts preserve bone, which gives patients more options in the event of a revision knee replacement surgery in the future.
Stability – By making anatomically precise cuts of the bone, the knee implant is accurately aligned to fit the patient’s anatomy. This provides more stability, giving patients greater confidence in their new knee. It also reduces pain and contributes to the longevity of the implant.

• Long Lasting – The Smith & Nephew implants used in conjunction with VISIONAIRE instruments are made with exclusive OXINIUM™ technology. OXINIUM implants are among the longest lasting, lightest and hypoallergenic joint implant materials used today.
• Minimally invasive procedure– Surgeons are able to utilize minimally-invasive surgical techniques, which reduces post operative pain. Patients thus have the potential to return to their active lifestyle faster, with less pain, than with a standard total knee replacement.
• Reduced Anesthesia Time – By determining proper implant size and alignment before surgery, surgeons may be able to reduce anesthesia time, minimizing the risk of infection
• We offer this procedure with knee implants from Zimmer, Smith & Nephew & Depuy.

Yusuf the Nigerian agricultural student is seen here on the third post operative day.

Femoral patient specific instrument

Patients seeking a knee replacement at our facility can now avail of a latest advance, patient specific instrumentation. Patient specific instrumentation or customized knee cutting blocks reduce operating time and operative steps.
The method consists of undergoing an MRI scan one month ahead of the planned date of the knee replacement procedure. The extra cost will be around a thousand dollars.
Indian patients will have to come for a consultation and MRI scan one to one and half months before their planned surgery.
Overseas patients desirous of having this will have to present themselves in India a month before the surgery. Alternatively if the facilities exist, they could have it done in their country.

Thanks Linda , only had one knee done at this stage but after being to the Dr’s here and finding out that you can wait up to 4 years here to get a knee I think I will be saving up and going back to India. It has certainly been an amazing experience ALL of it.

Baghdad, Iraq.
One can see her testimonial in Arabic here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpHs_z6JxXc&feature=related