SRK’s shoulder fixed, amid much fanfare

As he was wheeled out of the operation theatre after a shoulder surgery, a groggy Shah Rukh Khan managed to smile and wave to his wife Gauri, doctors at Breach Candy hospital said on Monday. The one-and-a-half hour surgery to repair the torn tendon on the Bollywood superstar’s left shoulder went exactly as planned, orthopedic surgeon Dr Sanjay Desai said. Alifiya Khan reports. See Graphics

As he was wheeled out of the operation theatre after a shoulder surgery, a groggy Shah Rukh Khan managed to smile and wave to his wife Gauri, doctors at Breach Candy hospital said on Monday.

HT Image

The one-and-a-half hour surgery to repair the torn tendon on the Bollywood superstar’s left shoulder went exactly as planned, orthopedic surgeon Dr Sanjay Desai and his team told the horde of journalists at the south Mumbai hospital.

Earlier in the day, as the actor checked into the hospital after flying in from London, a large crowd, including staff and patients’ visitors, had gathered to see him.

“He was suffering from a supraspinatus [muscle] tear, causing inflammation and pain,” said Dr Desai. “We performed the surgery using the arthroscopy method in which no stitches are required. His hand has been kept in a sling.”

In arthroscopy, doctors insert a tube-like instrument into a joint to inspect and repair tissues. But the joint is not opened, so recovery is faster and there is little pain, Desai explained.

Khan will be discharged in a day or two, but it will be a month before he can return to work and four months before he can resume his hectic lifestyle, the doctor said.

The actor had torn the muscle in November on the sets of Dulha Mil Gaya, directed by Muddasar Aziz. He did some physiotherapy in Mumbai but left for Los Angeles to shoot for Karan Johar’s My Name is Khan. On his return, he got busy promoting Billu.

So the surgery got delayed, said Dr Ali Irani, the physiotherapist who will help Khan recuperate.

In 2003, the actor underwent a major back surgery in London.

(With inputs from Princy Jain and Vajir Singh)