Woman weighing 142 kg undergoes knee replacement surgery

The 60-year-old woman from Jhajjar in Haryana was earlier told to go for bariatric surgery to reduce weight and then for knee replacement.

New Delhi: A 60-year-old woman, weighing 142 kilograms and facing obesity-induced arthritis pain that reduced her mobility, underwent a bilateral total knee replacement surgery at a city hospital here.

According to the patient, most of the doctors she consulted for her condition advised her to first go for bariatric surgery to reduce weight and then for knee replacement. She said she was not in agreement with the idea of undergoing bariatric surgery.

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Doctors at Primus Super Speciality Hospital conducted the bilateral knee surgery in just 35 minutes, enabling the patient to stand on her own feet in a matter of 12 hours, said a statement from the hospital. Usually, it takes 24-36 hours to restore a patient’s mobility in such cases. The patient, who belonged to the high-risk obese category, underwent the surgery for one knee at a time, it added.

The patient hailing from Jhajjar in Haryana was facing extreme difficulty in even doing daily activities due to severe obesity-induced arthritis pain that led to severe deformity in her both knees. Being overweight not only increased excruciating knee pain but also put the patient at higher risk of other obesity-related morbidities, the hospital said.

“Due to severe knee joint deformity, she had been experiencing unbearable pain for the past so many years and was not able to stand for more than one minute. In addition, obesity further intensified the burden on her knees, resulting in rapid degradation of the joint cartilage,” said Dr C S Yadav, Chairman and Head Department of Orthopedics and Joint Replacement, Primus Hospital.

The doctors operated on her knees and replaced them with implants and a supporting extension rod to further boost the longevity of the implants, he said. Obesity not only augments conditions of arthritis with women at a higher risk but also induces the chances of diabetes, hypertension, and other debilitating diseases, he added.

Despite doctors consistently advising her to lose weight before visiting Primus Hospital, the patient was unable to exercise or perform any physical activity because of joint pain in her knees.

“Whenever I tried exercising, my knees did not support. I almost lost hope of being able to walk again without experiencing any pain. I was denied surgery by a number of doctors due to my weight who asked me to go for bariatric surgery first to reduce weight but I was not ready for it,” she said.

Post surgery, she said she is now able to walk, climb stairs and do daily activities without any discomfort or pain.