Delhi hospital helps man walk after 11 years

New Delhi, Jan 20 (IANS) A 21-year-old man has been given a fresh lease of life after doctors at a Fortis hospital here performed two complex surgeries enabling him to walk after 11 years, the hospital said on Friday.

Gaurav Sharma met with a terrible accident in 2005, which left him with a fused hip and short left leg and having to walk with a crutch. He underwent six surgeries at various hospitals.

Sharma's case was complicated as he had a nail in his thigh bone preventing the placement of a hip prosthesis in the thigh bone, the hospital said in a statement.

The muscles around his hip joint were also scarred and atrophied, which made his prosthetic hip unstable and more prone to dislocation.

Sharma on May 5, 2016 underwent his first hip replacement surgery at the Fortis.

"In the first stage, the plan was to take out the nail from the thigh bone and then open the hip joint," said Dhananjay Gupta, Director (Orthopaedics, Spine, Joint Reconstruction) and Replacement Surgeon, at Fortis Flt. Lt. Rajan Dhall Hospital here.

As a result of multiple surgeries and exposure to strong antibiotics, Sharma developed complications and had to undergo removal of all the implants as his infection level was high.

Six months later, the patient was again taken for hip arthroplasty surgery, which was much smoother and swifter as his hip joint was already open.

The patient is now able to walk without support, but with a slight limp. He is now undergoing physiotherapy to increase his muscle strength, Gupta said.

"I was dwelling in uncertainty before I met these doctors... It was a temporary shock when I had to redo my surgery after the first one last year. However, now when I see myself walking without support in the mirror, I have no words to express my joy," Sharma said.