The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Pakistani boy is on the way to recovery, thanks to treatment in Chennai

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Oct 24, 2006
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Pakistani boy is on the way to recovery, thanks to treatment in Chennai

Staff Reporter

HAPPY DAY: Syed Samanullah with his son Zia Ur Rahman, who underwent treatment at Apollo Hospitals, Chennai, for a congenital bone deformity. The family will leave for Pakistan on Wednesday.

CHENNAI : Zia Ur Rahman, 6, dropped out of school last year because he could not walk. He was born with a split in his tibia, the bone connecting the ankle to the knee.

Because of this condition, his right leg appeared as if it had one extra joint other than the knee.

Zia, who lives in Peshawar in Pakistan, had been operated upon twice in Karachi and once in Quetta unsuccessfully even before he had completed kindergarten.

Amputation suggested

His doctor had suggested amputation six months ago. But then Zia's father, Syed Samanullah, met a friend in Karachi who said help was available at Apollo Hospitals in India. Zia travelled to Chennai with his father.

Mr. Samanullah, a vessels and grocery merchant, had already spent Pakistani Rs. 8 lakh on his first-born. His trip to India and the medical treatment here has cost him Rs. 2 lakh more.

On August 24, chief orthopaedic surgeon at Apollo Hospitals R. Gopal Krishnan operated on Zia.

The boy's leg is now in a "spring-loaded frame". He walks with the support of a walker and will leave for Peshawar on Tuesday.

He will return in two months for a follow-up.

`One in a million'

"It occurs in one in a million children. Russian professor G. A. Ilizarov developed a metal frame fitted with rings and metal rods.

As the fracture heals and connects the bones, the frame allows the bone to grow and the limb to lengthen gradually till the desired length is obtained."

Dr. Gopal Krishnan said, adding that he had been using this technique for 16 years. So far, he has treated 16 children for the same disorder. "We excise the entire false joint and are left with a gap of seven inches.

The Ilizarov frame holds his leg. The more he walks, the quicker will be the healing. His leg has gained a total of seven inches in length."

Zia will wear the Ilizarov frame for three more months till his leg reaches its optimum length and regains the strength to support him.

Using the Ilizarov technique bones can be grown up to a foot, Dr. Gopal Krishnan said.

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