A team of orthopaedic surgeons from the American Hospital Dubai recently made a presentation on the advances to protect, repair and replace the unique ‘Middle Eastern knee’ at a global meeting in San Francisco.

This presentation highlighted the differences in knee joints and replacement surgery between Middle East/Asian and western patients.

There is a difference between the anatomies of the knee joint in people from the East, compared to those in the West, which has been borne out by research, a statement said.

This fact must be taken into consideration when surgeons operate on patients from the Middle East, according to Dr Samih Tarabichi, director of the Total Joint Replacement Centre of Excellence at the American Hospital Dubai, who led the hospital’s team to the US conference.

Addressing the specific differences in regional knee types, Dr Tarabichi stressed his extensive personal experience, having performed over 2,000 knee surgeries in the US and more than 5,000 in the Middle East.

“The Middle Eastern knee is different to the joint I worked on in the US,” he said.

“There is some anatomical difference in the shape and angle of the tibia and femur and with the high prevalence of obesity, osteoporosis and diabetes amongst patients in the Middle East, we tend to see more advanced knee problems by the time we see the patient.”

“Our patients here are often heavy and we have to be very gentle with the surgical treatment, taking into account these anatomical differences,” he added.

The specific demands of knee surgery patients in the region, based on the cultural requirements to kneel for prayer and to sit in social gatherings, were also touched upon in the presentation which brought together the leading knee surgeons from the US and beyond.

The annual conference included presentations and discussion sessions, as well as live surgical procedures.

Dr Tarabichi, who is also the Middle East edition editor of The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, has patented two devices in the US which are currently used in joint surgery. – TradeArabia News Service