53-year-old British expat, receives first customized implants surgery for knee joints

53-year-old British expat, receives first customized implants surgery for knee joints

Mr. Mark Robert, a 53-year-old British national, is relieved from his excruciating knee pain after undergoing a total knee replacement surgery with specially designed customized implants manufactured to match his knee anatomy.

American Hospital Dubai conducted a 3D technology-powered total knee joint replacement surgery using customized implant procedure, the latest medical treatment available to effectively cure patients requiring knee joint replacement surgery.

The hospital strengthens its leadership as a center of medical care excellence by performing complicated, medically advanced techniques surgeries in Dubai, ensuring people can receive high standard treatment and health care without leaving the country.

Patient's healing journey

Mr. Robert is a long-time resident in Dubai who lived a very active life and enjoyed outdoor sports. However, due to his long history of osteoarthritis and an injury in the right knee, he suffered from enormous knee pain, leading to a loss in the range of movements.

He visited Dr. Catalin Stefan Dragulescu, Orthopedic Surgeon at American Hospital Dubai, who diagnosed his condition after an x-ray and found he required a total knee replacement surgery. The doctor also explained the new customized knee joint implant procedure in the hospital that is more effective in treating patients and returning to regular activities more quickly

Mr. Mark could walk only short distances and needed a lot of pain medication to deal with his pain, said Dr. Stefan, who performed a customized knee implant procedure on his right knee.

Dr. Stefan explained that there are two ways to do total knee replacement surgery. "The common one is to replace damaged surfaces in the knee using off-the-shelf implants for the surgery. The latest treatment technique is customized implants for the knee that is available at our hospital, where exclusive tailored made implants are designed especially for the patient to match his knee's anatomy."

A lot of complicated data engineering is needed to manufacture the customized knee implant for the surgery, which requires effective collaboration between the engineering team and surgeon before the implants are manufactured, he added.

Hence, the actual surgery preparation time is usually longer, requires 6 to 7 weeks from the day the patient agrees to the custom knee implant surgery, and the 3D CT scan is done, he added.

"Since everything is planned earlier, the time spent during operation is shortened. Therefore, the patient is having potentially lesser chances of getting any infection because surgery is completed faster, less bleeding and trauma may occur during the actual operation," he said.

"The patient can recover and mobilize himself much earlier than conventional surgery. He will be able to get back to his normal activity and full functionality, living a pain-free life again at a much quicker rate," he said.

Mr. Robert had spent five days in the hospital after surgery. He had started walking and physiotherapy activity on the same day in the afternoon, Dr. Stefan said. "He is still on physiotherapy, which is also an essential part of this treatment, and usually, patients need 10 to 12 session post-surgery."

Joint replacement surgeries

The demand for joint replacement surgeries mainly related to hip and knee replacements is most common and often performed globally. These are effective surgeries that help patients to remove joint pain and improve their quality of life.

American Hospital Dubai is the only hospital in the UAE that performs customized hip implant surgery. The hospital recently completed its first total knee replacement procedure, healing people's joint problems to lead a high quality, active and pain-free life.

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