An American Hospital Dubai surgeon successfully treated a four-year-old boy from Oman with a rare type of hip dislocation. Dr Assad Qureshi, Consultant Paediatric Orthopaedic Surgeon, used an innovative procedure to correct both hips in a single operation.
The boy suffered from Kabuki Syndrome, a rare genetic condition that prevents the hip's femur bone from fitting correctly in the socket, causing dislocation when the child walks. The hips are termed shallow. The boy developed a dislocation of the left hip when he turned three and could not walk, and X-rays revealed both hips to be shallow.
After seeking several medical opinions, the boy's parents visited Dr Qureshi at the American Hospital Dubai's American Children Centre. Treating hip problems in Kabuki syndrome is challenging, with less than a handful of reported cases in the global literature, but Dr Qureshi's innovative approach ensured a breakthrough. Dr Qureshi worked out the cause of the left hip's dislocation using an injection dye study and devised a treatment strategy to correct both hips in a single operation.
Dr Qureshi, assisted by Dr Jubin Raju, Specialist Orthopaedic Surgeon, undertook a five-hour surgery ensuring the boy did not require a blood transfusion. Post-surgery, the boy was under 24-hour observation in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, the only one of its kind in a private hospital in Dubai.
Following a smooth recovery, the boy returned to Oman on the third day, and his cast was removed at six weeks. Today, three months after the surgery, he is taking his first steps to his parents' joy.
"This surgery has many firsts,” says Dr Qureshi. “There are probably less than a dozen treated cases of hip dislocation in Kabuki syndrome, and our patient is among the oldest children to be treated for this condition. It is the first time both hips have been treated in a single surgery, and the child only spent six weeks in a cast rather than months. This case sets a world precedent in treating childhood hip dislocation. The child is doing well, and the family is delighted with the outcome."
