The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Coimbatore News : Surgery brings hope to Abuthagir

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Thursday, Sep 14, 2006
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Coimbatore

Surgery brings hope to Abuthagir

Staff Reporter

COIMBATORE: Abuthagir was the breadwinner of his family. He worked at a footwear shop at Karumbukadai. But a nagging pain in limbs made life miserable for him. Over the years, the pain worsened and he was unable to walk and was forced to quit job.

Twenty-three-year old Abuthagir was diagnosed with `ankylosis,' a condition that restricted the movements of joints in his legs at the Coimbatore Medical College Hospital (CMCH). The disease had blocked the blood circulation in the upper parts of his thighbone, making it difficult for him to walk. At CMCH, a hip-joint replacement surgery was performed on him free of cost. "He was carried to the hospital. After the surgery, he has shown functional improvement in the limbs and he can walk back home now," says Dr. T.P. Kalaniti, Dean of CMCH. Abuthagir is now able to walk, sit and fold his legs.

He had a fall from a tree at the age of 13 and a few years later, developed rheumatoid arthritis, a condition, which caused stiffness of the limbs and severe pain. His family took him to several hospitals but learnt that the corrective surgery cost at least Rs.3 lakh, which they could not afford. He was then taken to the Coimbatore Medical College Hospital (CMCH) on recommendation by the Coimbatore Press Club.

The bilateral hip replacement surgery, which lasted for three hours, has been made available in the hospital from this year, Dr. Kalaniti said. Now, it was performed every Friday as the government had allotted grants for conducting any number of such surgeries for the poor, he added.

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