Rims docs carry out rare prosthetic op, reconstruct tibia

Ranchi: For 23-year-old Manjusha walking without experiencing pain in her leg seemed like a distant dream because for more than 10 years she was suffering from a bone tumour on her right tibia and for the last three months, she was almost bed-ridden from the pain. But on Friday, she was all smiles and back on her feet following a surgery at the Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (Rims), Ranchi where the doctors removed the tumour by performing a total knee mega prosthetic replacement operation.
Initially, the Latehar resident had consulted a few private clinics in the district but it was all in vain. On June 26, she came to the state-run hospital where the doctors from the orthopaedics department, along with a few oncologists, decided to conduct the rare surgery in which a part of tibia was removed and the removed part of the bone was reconstructed with an external implant.
The head of orthopaedics department, Dr L B Manjhi who led the team which performed the surgery, said: “It is a feat for our department as this is the first time that we have done a reconstruction surgery of tibia using an implant after removing a decade-old tumour.”
Dr Saubhik Das, who is the assistant professor at the orthopaedics department, said: “The patient was experiencing pain while walking. After an initial diagnosis, we discovered a local aggressive tumour, which is also called as pathological fracture of tibia near knee joint on her right leg.”
But the doctors had to wait for the implant as it is costly and it was procured with the help of Latehar MLA Baijnath Ram, who provided the patient with Rs 1.5 lakh.
Manjusha said: “I had never imagined that I will be walking again without pain and I am indebted to the doctors who made it possible. I am also thankful to our local MLA who readily accepted my family’s request and provided us the money.”
Manjusha is currently pursuing MA from Kartik Oraon College in Gumla.