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Now, Indian doc cures Bangladeshi woman
Doctors gave a new lease of life to a Bangladeshi woman who could not walk for the last seven years.
Indian doctors have given a new lease of life to a Bangladeshi woman who could not walk or bend for the last seven years.
In a path-braking surgery, Nazma Begum, 42, a mother of four was provided an artificial disc for her spine by the Apollo Hospital group, enabling her to walk straight in less than a week after the operation.
The patient said she had been suffering excruciating back pain for the last seven years.
The surgeon leading the team, Sajan Hegde, said the patient's X-rays showed that the space between the L5 vertebra and the sacrum bone was reduced. The spinal disc in the lower back had rotted and was crumbling.
Muhammad Ali, Nazma Begum's husband who is a businessmen from Bikrampur, Dhaka, said he had brought her to Kolkata several times for treatment.
But in the last five months, Nazma had been completely bedridden. Released from the hospital Saturday, she said: "I could not even sit down and read the namaz, the back pain was so bad."
Last year, a friend told the family to look for help with the Apollo Hospital in Chennai. Her disc was replaced by an artificial implant on Sep 8 in a two-and-a-half-hour procedure.
According to the hospital's orthopaedic experts, 80 percent of the world's adult population suffers from some kind of back pain or the other. If one is pot-bellied, it can curve the spine unnaturally, if one smokes, it can disintegrate the joints and bones.
In the last 40 years, while replacement of limb joints has become a common practice in many hospitals, only a few hospitals in the world today have advanced technologies that help them replace spinal discs.
The Apollo Hospital in Chennai has become one of the first hospitals in India to develop a safe and cost-effective procedure for this, with the pioneering technique performed on Nazma Begum.
In a simple detailed video film of the actual operation, the team of doctors Friday showed the media and others how this surgery was done.
A small vertical incision was made in the abdomen under the belly button.
The abdominal organs were pushed aside and tied to get access to the spine bone giving an approach to the damaged disc. The crumbling bone disc was then scooped out and a new plastic disc with two special metal-plate covers was inserted into the vacant spine slot.
Within 24 hours the patient was able to take a few steps.
"Degeneration of the disc can happen to anyone," Hegde said. At least 85 percent of back pain cases can be provided relief without surgery. "Only about 15 percent need surgical intervention."
The implant for Nazma was imported from Britain and cost about Rs.55,000. The medical procedure cost about Rs.120, 000. If such implants are made in India, the cost will come down further, experts say.
The life of an implant is about 60-65 years. If it is placed in a young person suffering from back pain due to disc degeneration, it can stop a person from becoming bed-ridden as he or she grows older.
"For tennis players and sports persons who suffer back injuries, it can mean a return to competitive games," the experts said.
"To be able to see a person who cannot walk walking is a doctor's dream come true. For me that is the greatest satisfaction - to help someone stand up and walk again," Hegde said.
Mahmuda Khanum, Nazma's 20-year-old daughter who accompanied her, confided:
"You cannot imagine how glad I am. We have seen our mother suffer for so long, now at last I hope she will get complete relief from her pain."
The family returns to Bangladesh Saturday with a thank you to Indian doctors even as Pratap Reddy emphasized: "I want to tell the world that what the best of hospitals can do, we can do in India too."
