Knee replacement made easy, thanks to pinless navigation

Knee replacement made easy, thanks to pinless navigation

The standard procedure for a knee replacement surgery, which includes getting holes drilled into your knee and then having pins inserted into them, can be a daunting proposition. However, a new technological innovation-the pinless navigation system-aims to make the surgery a safer and a less painful option. The system uses infrared cameras and tracking software to conduct knee replacements surgeries without using the traditional pins. The first such surgery was carried out in Mumbai on May 18 by Dr Vijay Allahbadia, consultant joint replacement surgeon at Hinduja Healthcare. He said that the procedure is less invasive and takes lesser time than the traditional method. “You don’t need to drill holes into the bone but can simply put markers in the instrument you’re using to cut the bone instead,” Allahbadia said. Radhaben Somani, 69, who was suffering from knee pain since 20 years, was the first patient to undergo this new form of surgery. She said she was afraid of getting the surgery done knowing how painful the recovery was for her friends. “But since the doctor assured me he wouldn’t drill holes, I decided to go for it,” Somani said. Allahbadia claims to be the only surgeon to avail this technology in the city. When asked why more doctors are not using the system, he said that it is expensive to set up and one needs to go through extensive training to learn how to conduct the surgery. Dr ML Saraf, orthopaedic surgeon at Bombay Hospital said, “This is a new technology. In India, there is no regulation about how much experience a doctor has to have with a certain technology before being allowed to use it. Unless a doctor has substantial practice with it, they shouldn’t conduct the surgery.”