By Violet Pereira, Team Mangalorean

Mangalore:  A very rare cancerous tumor was removed and knee joint replaced using the latest technology, thereby saving the patient from the agony of an amputation to 29-year-old Ashraf M at the Indiana Hospital, said Dr Ahmed Rizwan C M at a press meet held in the boardroom of the Hospital, Pumpwell here on June 26.

Addressing the mediapersons Dr Rizwan said that Ashraf was suffering from severe pain which made his life miserable.  He could not undertake any routine activity because of it and he almost lost all hope of leading a normal life in a very young age. When examined it was found to be a cancerous tumor and in most of the cases to save the life of the patient amputation was the preferred choice. 

Further he said that after taking opinion from many doctors who suggested amputation or referred to mentors for further  treatment, Ashraf decided to meet doctors of Indiana Hospital.  Dr Jalaluddin, Dr Ahmed Rizwan and Dr Mohammed Shibli who had the experience dealing with tumors in different parts of the body the removal of which helped patients to lead comfortable life thereafter examined the patient. In Ashraf's case tumor was present in upper left leg which had already entered joint and only option was to amputate the leg

The team of doctors had internal discussions on this case and they decided to save the limb by salvage procedure which was never done in the region.  After a five-hour surgery, they were successful in removing the dangerous tumor and saving the patient's limb. The patient can now walk comfortably without any pain. This is the first time in the city of Mangalore a rare surgery called 'mega hinge prosthesis' has been performed. The total cost of the surgery is Rs 2.5 lakh, said Dr Rizwan. 

The aggressive gain cell tumor is very rarely found in this region and all the known cases have been treated with amputation.  This type of tumor usually prevails with severe pain, especially in the night, gradually followed by swelling. If examined early, even the joints of the limb could have been saved.

Speaking on the occasion HOD of the institute of Orthopedics in Indiana Hospital and heart Institute, Dr Jalaluddin said that normally amputation is chosen as the option in cases of such a huge tumor but "we in Indiana with expert team involving Dr Rizwan and Dr Shibli were successful in salvaging and removing the tumor in turn saving the patient's limb."

Indiana Orthopaedic institute has three main Orthopaedic surgeons who are specialized in different areas of surgeries. Dr Jalaluddin M V is specialized in joint replacement and spine surgery, Dr  A Rizwan  orthopaedic oncology from Tata Memorial Hospital and Hinduja Hospital Mumbai and Dr Shibli specialized in advance trauma and spine surgery. Collectively the three make the best combination of doctors which any advanced centre can have. Now people need not depend on metro cities for advanced surgeries like the one referred to here.

Managing director of the Indiana Hospital Dr Yusuf Kumble said, "With this achievement, our centre has reached an important milestone in the history of global healthcare.  This hospital was started only 5 months back, but the response that we have been receiving is overwhelming.  We have treated more than 20,000 patients, including over 150 cases of angioplasty with zero mortality.  The specialty and super-specialty departments are doing extremely good and we have turned out to be the referral centre for cardiology, neonatalogy and joint replacement surgeries.  Many foreign patients are satisfied with the service."

Ashraf, the patient, IHHI chairman Dr Ali Kumble, Raviraj and vice president Dr Satish were also present.