India gets new, less invasive hip implant

15-Aug-2006

Medical tourists considering travelling to India for orthopaedic treatment now have the option of an innovative new hip implant which is said to last longer and be less painful.

Proxima, an advanced implant for hip replacement surgery, was launched in India last month and is described as the first hip implant designed specifically for minimally-invasive surgery.

According to Dr Francesco Saverio Santori, the Italian orthopaedic surgeon who designed Proxima, the implant has achieved 100 per cent success during its 11 year development period.

"The size of the implant is smaller and provides maximum direct contact with bone, besides increasing the longevity of the surgical procedure and eliminating thigh pain," he told DNA website.

Darius Soonawalla, consulting orthopaedic surgeon at Breach Candy and Jaslok hospitals, revealed: "It preserves more bone than traditional hip implant surgeries, but lesser than what hip resurfacing does.

"So it could be used in selective cases, such as for people with good bone stock for whom resurfacing would not be suitable."

In addition, the surgery requires one or two incisions of just two to three inches in length, compared to the ten to 12 inch incision required for existing procedures.

Patients suffering from destructive arthritis often opt for hip replacement surgery, which involves replacing the ball-and-socket mechanism of the hip with artificial implants, and between 90 and 95 per cent of patients claim to experience significant pain relief as a result of the procedure.