Dubai: In the first ever ‘zero technique’ knee replacement surgery conducted in the UAE by Dr Vikram Shah at RAK Hospital, a 69-year-old Emirati woman who had painful knee joints was able to walk within hours after the surgery.
Dr Shah, a visiting superspecialist surgeon from Shalby Hospital, India, introduced and innovated the zero technique through which he can perform a joint replacement surgery in 10 minutes against two hours taken by other doctors performing the surgery using conventional methods. The zero technique involves prior planning like implant selection, planning surgical techniques, anaesthesia, analgesia and patient counselling and is named ‘zero’ technique as it minimises the time taken for surgery, recovery, hospital stay, blood loss and so on, providing great relief to patients and their families, explained Dr Shah who will be visiting RAK Hospital again on April 4 and 5.
He, however, cautioned that patients who are obese, have severe knee deformity or have metabolic problems need thorough evaluation before surgery.
The patient’s son (name withheld on request) was very happy with the outcome that greatly enhanced the quality of his mother’s life. He said: “My mother is now relieved of the pain she was suffering. Within a day after the surgery she showed marked improvement and was walking within just hours of the surgery.”
