Doctors at a Delhi hospital manage to give a new lease of life to a 28-year-old Oman man, who had suffered from left knee deformity (tibial condyle)  for the last 11 years, by carrying out a complex surgical procedure.

The man had met with an accident where he suffered from a fracture in left knee. After an accident he was treated in his native country, he continued to face acute knee pain and over the time developed a complex knee deformity.

With his condition deteriorating over the past years, he was referred to Delhi’s Apollo Hospital,  where he was admitted under the supervision of Dr (Prof.) Raju Vaishya, Senior Consultant, Orthopaedics and Joint Replacement.

Through X-ray, and CT scan he was diagnosed with malunited medial tibial condyle fracture with severe varus deformity and posterior subluxation (partial dislocation) of the knee.

Dr (Prof) Raju Vaishya, Senior Consultant, Orthopaedics and Joint Replacement, said, “On admission at Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals, the patient was very weak and was unable to walk. The complex knee deformity is known as a malunited fracture where the fracture was not united in the correct alignment.”

“Since the tibial condyle fractures involve the knee joint, there was a complex deformity of the knee due to varus (bow leg) and posterior subluxation (backward shifting). The patient's knee became increasingly painful after 2 years of the initial treatment and the deformity and instability also increased over 9 years, which deteriorated over the past year. If left untreated his symptoms could have further worsened leading to immobility and severe restriction of the activities of daily living. The patient would have eventually required a total knee replacement at a young age,” Dr Vaishya added.

Dr Vasihya further said that the patient was admitted on  November 24, 2022 and he was treated via 3D printing technology, which is a relatively new technology to correct joint deformities.

“The procedure took about 90 minutes. The complex knee deformity of this young man was treated using 3D printing technology, where virtual preoperative planning was done on the computer and a 3D printed plastic model, to correct the deformity. A novel type of osteotomy (trans condylar valgus osteotomy of TCVO) was used to correct the alignment of the knee. The preoperative 3D virtual planning helped us to replicate the bone cuts and fix the osteotomy (bone cut) with a remoulded titanium plate, during the surgery,” the doctor said.

The patient is doing fine now. His knee pain has been resolved and the deformity corrected. He was discharged on November 28 2022 and at present is undergoing rehabilitation of the knee in Oman.