Fully free hip, knee replacements begin at AIIMS

Nagpur: This month, the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) has performed three hip and three knee joint replacement surgeries under the government’s Mahatma Jyotirao Phule Jan Arogya Yojana (MJPJAY), making it a completely free-of-cost surgery for the patients.

The costly implant, consumables and surgeon’s fee take the operation expenses up to Rs1 lakh at AIIMS Nagpur, if not covered under the scheme. The surgery costs around Rs3 lakh in a private setup.

Beneficiaries of lower income groups — Below Poverty Line and orange ration card holders — can now hope for complete waiver on these surgeries at AIIMS under MJPJAY. Non-availability of prosthetics under the scheme has disrupted surgeries at other medical colleges in the district.

Assistant professor Dr Vivek Tiwari said the number of patients requiring knee replacement surgeries due to end-stage knee osteoarthritis is very high in India. “Due to high costs involved in procuring the hip and knee joint prosthesis, many poor patients continue to bear the pain and accept their disability as permanent, and do not opt for surgery despite having severe pain,” Dr Tiwari added.

Officiating medical superintendent Dr Manish Shrigiriwar said, “We had requested the vendor to offer discounts for poor patients despite the scheme coverage. This ensured we saved Rs3,000 from the coverage amount.”

However, due to shortage of staff, the AIIMS orthopaedic department had been performing surgeries, including trauma and routine cases, only twice a week.

So far, 30 joint replacement surgeries have been done in the department. “Various types of knee and shoulder arthroscopic surgeries are being done in the department, and more than 50 patients including sportspersons have benefited from the arthroscopic key-hole surgeries here. These surgeries are also being done under the MJPJAY scheme at AIIMS Nagpur,” a press statement said.

Orthopaedics department in-charge Dr Samir Dwidmuthe said, “We plan to perform 30 to 40 surgeries a year under the scheme alone. Surgeries will now be done thrice a week. As more operation theatres get functional, we will have a separate facility for joint reconstruction. Right now, we are maintaining a waitlist on first come, first served basis. Some slots are reserved for emergency surgeries.”

Next month, spine surgeries are also being started as a new specialist has recently joined the department.

The team of doctors from the orthopaedics department also includes Dr Mahadeo Ghuge, Dr Suhas Aradhya BM, Dr Mainak Roy and Dr Harshavardhan Reddy. The surgeries are being done due to the support of the faculty team from anaesthesia department which includes Dr Amrusha Raipure, Dr Avinash Prakash, Dr Omshubham Asai and Dr Bhuvneswari B.


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