A patient, Prem Narayan, aged 58 yrs, was suffering from a tumour of thigh bone (femur).He was having severe pain in his thigh and was hardly walking. He had to take leave from his office and was on bed rest for last few weeks. When he contacted some nearby hospital he was advised to undergo amputation from hip joint level.
 
The patient and the family were obviously very distraught because amputation meant not only disability but also loss of job. Then he met Dr Aahwani Maichand , Senior Joint Replacement Surgeon, who after clinical assessment told the family that the limb could be saved.
 
The surgery , Total Femur Replacement, was done by Dr Ashwani Maichand and Dr Ramesh Bishnoi on 26.2.11. The surgery lasted six hours , required four units of blood and patient was perfectly fine in post operative period. The surgeons removed the thigh bone (femur) completely and replaced with artificial femur made of titanium. The hip and knee joints were also replaced with artificial joints. It is a very rare and complex surgery and is done at very few centres in world.
 
Dr Maichand told, ‘The beauty of the surgery is that we are able to give the patient a practically new limb which is tumour free and can make the patient stand within few days. But such extensive surgeries need really good back up like efficient anaesthesia team, a well equipped ICU & a vigilant oncology division.’
Dr Hari Goyal, Chief Oncologist at BLK Hospital, has complemented the team of surgeons for the achievement and hoped that the future for such patients looks bright.