A Chennai-based Orthopaedic expert has successfully performed the advance rare surgey of S-Rom hip called hip replacement surgery on a 20-year-old man recently.

In a release on June 5, ortho expert Dr A K Venkatachalam said the patient Rahul, had been walking from infancy with a shortened left leg. He was told that he had pus distraction of his left hip in the second-year of his life. He was taken to a government Hospital in Chennai for treatment, but it failed to restore normalcy and he was always left with a limp in his left leg.

Over the last few years here also developed pain in the same hip. On the advise of another doctor, he approached Dr Venkatachalam and underwent a complex hip replacement surgery which restored his mobility finally. Dr Venkatachalam said discussion-Pus destruction of the hip joint in infancy was prevalent in Africa and Asia. The hip joint fails to develop and as a result, the left leg becomes shorter.

The socket of the hip joint was very shallow and the ball part of the thigh bone was totally destroyed. The shaft of the thigh bone was very thin compared to the other leg. The thigh was dislocated upwards on the pelvic bone. The muscles around the hip joint were all tight and shortened and the nerves and the blood supply were at risk during surgery.

A total hip replacement was a formidable challenge in these type of cases because of these reasons, but Dr Venkatachalam said he did the surgery using advanced hip known as the S-ROM hip. ''This is a modular type of hip prosthesis. Metal on ceramic bearings were used considering the young age of the patient'', Dr Venkatachalam said.