A 60-year-old man from Kenya underwent a daycare total knee replacement (TKR) surgery at a city hospital in New Delhi, which the doctors on November 21 claimed was the "first" such operation in northern part of the country.


Total Knee Replacement (TKR) surgery is a procedure to replace the affected knee joint with artificial material and serves as a saviour for patients struggling with severely damaged knee joints. "Joseph Maina Githemba from Kenya, was advised replacement for his left knee owing to an accident he had met 15 years ago," a spokesperson of Max Hospital, Saket said.

Under the care of Vikram Mhaskar, Consultant - Knee & Shoulder Surgery, Max Smart Super Speciality Hospital, Saket, Joseph underwent complete check-ups before the surgery including blood tests, ECG, X-rays, cardiology and physician tests and pre-anaesthesia checkup (PAC).

Joseph was trained to do exercises that would be required after his recent surgery. "Dr Vikram and his team performed the first daycare TKR in north India using minimally invasive technique that included no tourniquet, injecting local anaesthesia into the skin before incision as well as into tissues at regular intervals, meticulous dissection, catching all bleeds before closure of the wound and injection of tranexamic acid to reduce bleeding post-operation," the hospital said in a statement.

Total knee replacement has been a time-taking procedure with around three hours of surgery and considerable hospital stay post operation, the doctor said. "Daycare TKR has served as a revolution in healthcare industry with minimal incision, exposure, blood loss and hospitalisation. It also brings down the total cost by 30-35 per cent compared to standard TKRs," Vikram claimed. "Choosing the right patient is crucial and no comorbidities in Joseph's case made this first daycare TKR procedure a success," he said.