Saina to be discharged today

MUMBAI: Indian badminton star and former world number one Saina Nehwal underwent a knee surgery on Saturday at a hospital in Mumbai to repair a fracture.

MUMBAI: Indian badminton star and former world number one Saina Nehwal underwent a knee surgery on Saturday at a hospital in Mumbai to repair a fracture.

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Doctors at Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital in Andheri, where she was operated in the morning said that she is doing well and will be discharged from the hospital on Sunday morning. Doctors reported that she was able to walk a few hours after the surgery.

Doctors said that an MRI report in Hyderabad, her home town, had revealed that a small part of the bone in her right knee had chipped off from the kneecap (patella), which was causing her excruciating pain. She reached Mumbai on Friday evening for an arthroscopic surgery. She is accompanied by her father.

“A part of the ‘spur bone’ in her right knee, which is also known as extra bone, was fractured and chipped off. We removed that piece and repaired that area,” said Dr Dinshaw Pardiwala, head, centre for sports medicine at Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital.

Doctors said the body produces spur bones in areas that are under an unusual amount of pressure and such bone growths are commonly seen in athletes. “This bone usually breaks with a single injury, however, Saina does not recall any such injuries. In her case, repeated training must have caused the fracture,” said Dr Paridawala.

“It is unfortunate that the fracture happened during the Olympics. Initially when the pain was not too bad, she had continued playing by strapping her knee and taking pain killers,” he added.

Nehwal had started experiencing pain during the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Doctors said she will need three weeks to recuperate followed by rehabilitation, after which she should be able to start playing again.