Dubai’s Burjeel Hospital for Advanced Surgery, one of the top most medical facilities in the region, recently performed the world’s first simultaneous four joint surgery.

The surgery was performed by Dr Samih Tarabichi, the director general at the Hospital and Tarabichi’s Centre of Joint Surgery, and his team of supporting doctors and nurses.

Dr Tarabichi said: “The procedure has never been performed in the US or Europe. The patient was suffering from severe rheumatoid arthritis and it had led to deformity in his knee and hip leaving him crippled.”

“In the West, he would have gotten proper care at the onset of the condition and hence the need for such a surgery does not arise. However in this region most seek medical help once the disease has progressed,” he said.

“Initially we planned to do two surgeries – one for his hip and one for his knees. However evidence and our past experience has shown that infection and complications arise when a patient is subject to two surgeries in a week. Also if we had only done the replacement surgery on the knees, over time the deformity would have returned because he couldn’t straighten the hip.  To ensure these do not happen, the surgeries had to happen simultaneously,” he added.

Dr Tarabichi before going ahead with the critical procedure consulted the anesthesiologist and cardiologist to determine if the patient was fit to undergo such a strenuous surgery.

“When the patient, 65 year old Najem A H Kh Alkhalfan came to us he was severely crippled due to rheumatoid arthritis. I had to determine whether his body could withstand the blood loss that comes with surgeries. I ruled him fit especially since no complications would arise since he was not obese, diabetic or hypertensive,” said Dr Aruna Varma, Anesthesiologist at Burjeel Hospital for Advanced Surgery.

“We were confident the procedure will go well because this is a specialised joint repair centre and we do close to 1000 joint replacement surgeries annually. We optimised the operating time to reduce blood loss and used many blood conservation strategies,” she added.

Dr Tarabichi and Dr Varma both recognised the patient’s positive mind-set as a contributing factor to their decision to go ahead with the surgery.

“When I was being wheeled to the operating theatre, I was not nervous. Rather I was optimistic, I travelled from Kuwait to Dubai because I had stellar recommendations of Dr Tarabichi and the hospital,” said the patient.

“I had complete faith in the doctor that the surgery would go well,” he added.

Dr Varma did not put Najem under general anesthesia rather opted for an epidural so he was interactive during the operation. The surgery was done in less than five hours.

Doctors first fixed the knee before moving to the hip. The day after the surgery, the patient was moved from the ICU to a normal room to recover. His physiotherapy started the next day too.

Dr Faisal Hayat Khan at Burjeel Hospital for Advanced Surgery, said: “We have started the patient on passive physiotherapy. While in the beginning he has to walk with the aid of a walker, in 3 to 4 weeks we hope to have him walking without any assistance.”

“Even though it is the first time such a surgery has taken place, we aren’t following a special protocol, we will treat him like we would a patient who has undergone a bilateral knee reconstruction,” he added.

Dr Hayat-Khan also stressed that these time frames require the patient to be in a positive frame of mind. The patient is determined to cooperate with the doctors and says he wants to be running soon.

“I want to be able to pray, to prostrate before God. Once I am up and running, I also want to invite my entire family and host a big feast,” he said.

“I am very thankful to the doctors at Burjeel Hospital for Advanced Surgery, they have been warm and made me feel very comfortable,” he said, his family nodding in agreement.

“We are honoured to have a doctor of Dr Tarabichi’s caliber on board and to be a place where constant innovation happens,” Dr Shajjir Gaffar, the CEO of Burjeel Hospital for Advanced Surgery, Dubai.

“We are pleased that Dubai is fast becoming a hub for medical tourism and this will be further strengthened with the news of the first four joint replacement surgery happening here,” he added. – TradeArabia News Service