Delhi Hospital Successfully Treats Iraq Boy With Rare Leg Deformity

A teenage boy from Iraq with severe deformity of legs has been successfully treated at a private hospital in Delhi, according to a statement.

A rare surgery was performed on the 15-year-old patient that involved correcting (bone femur and tibia) all four bones of both his legs.

The patient, who is also deaf and mute, suffers from a syndrome where all the bones of upper limbs and lower limbs are deformed, with the lower ones more affected, the doctors said.

"Since this was a complex case, the deformities were corrected using 3-D printing technology and software-based analysis of the deformity, two of the latest and most innovative tools used in the field of orthopedic surgery. The surgery was done in two stages with a gap of four to five days," Director and Head of Orthopaedics, Joint Replacement at Aakash Healthcare Super Speciality Hospital, Aashish Chaudhry said.

He said the patient was admitted to hospital with "three-dimensional deformity", with both thigh bones and leg bones deformed.

"According to his medical history, doctors in his native country tried to give him growth hormones and a lot of other medications, but he was not able to walk. So, all the four bones had to be corrected which posed a tough challenge," he said.

He further stated that 3-D printing technology was used to develop exact bone models on the basis of CT scan to prepare software-based planning of the deformity correction.

"Since the bones were curved in a complex way, we had to cut the bone at three places to straighten them. After that, we had to align them and fix them with an implant (which passes inside the bones) through a nailing procedure we commonly refer to as the 'seekh kebab' procedure. So, this way, all the four bones' deformities were corrected," he said.

Sharing inputs on the complex procedure done, Dr Aashish Chaudhry, Director & Head, Orthopaedics, Joint Replacement, said limb deformities in kids and children is a complex clinical condition that can go worse if not treated in time.

He further stated that the patient would require a lot of training, physiotherapy, and muscle training to regain strength and proper functionality of his limbs.

Sharing more information on such deformities in kids, Dr Chaudhry said such deformities could be genetic, traumatic or nutritional.

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