New Delhi [India], July 13 : Doctors at Private Hospital in Patparganj, successfully performed a complex total hip replacement surgery on a 36-year-old morbidly obese patient weighing 162 kg, who had been suffering from severe pain and significant restriction of movement due to secondary degenerative arthritis of the right hip.
The patient is among the highest body-weight individuals to undergo total hip replacement at the hospital, making the procedure particularly challenging due to the increased surgical, anaesthetic and related complexities associated with severe obesity.
Ahmed Abdulmueen Kadhim, a resident of Iraq, had been experiencing persistent pain in the right hip that had not responded to conservative treatment in his country for a few years. His condition had progressively affected his mobility, making it difficult for him to walk and even carry out his routine activities. Seeing his situation, his family decided to visit India to consult Dr (Prof.) Anil Arora, Chairman and Head of Department, Orthopaedics and Joint Replacement, Max Hospital, Patparganj, New Delhi.
Given the patient's severe obesity and body weight, performing a total hip replacement presented significant clinical and technical challenges. Hence, the surgical team had to carefully evaluate the choice of implant and fixation strategy to ensure stability and long-term durability, considering the substantial mechanical load on the replaced joint to achieve stable fixation, accurate implant positioning, and restoration of joint function.
Speaking about the case, Dr Anil Arora said, "Performing total hip replacement surgery in a patient weighing 162 kilograms presents significant technical and clinical challenges. Excessive body weight makes surgical exposure difficult, increases the complexity of positioning the implant, and places substantially greater mechanical stress on the artificial joint. Careful pre-operative planning, appropriate implant selection, and precise surgical execution were therefore critical in this case. Despite these challenges, we were able to achieve accurate implant placement and stable fixation, and the patient showed good early recovery following the procedure."
The surgery was completed successfully without any intraoperative complications. The patient's postoperative course remained uneventful, and follow-up X-rays showed satisfactory positioning and stability of the hip implants. Restoring hip biomechanics in a morbidly obese patient is very difficult. Dr Arora used a collared stem implant to look into morbid obesity. This case required an experienced and expert surgeon for a successful outcome. He has been doing complex joint replacements for more than 3 decades now.
Following surgery, the patient underwent supervised physiotherapy and rehabilitation, including exercises aimed at preventing complications, strengthening the muscles around the operated joint, and gradually restoring mobility. He showed early relief from pain and improvement in his overall functional condition. Ahmed was discharged within 7 days of surgery and went back to his country.
Dr Arora, further added, "Severe obesity is an important consideration in joint replacement surgery as it can increase the risk of complications and place additional stress on the implanted joint. However, obesity alone should not necessarily prevent patients suffering from advanced arthritis and severe functional limitations from being considered for joint replacement. With careful patient selection, comprehensive medical evaluation, meticulous surgical technique, and coordinated postoperative care, complex joint replacement procedures can be performed safely in carefully selected patients. Managing these complex cases required synchronised efforts from a multidisciplinary team, backed by the expertise and advanced capabilities of a comprehensive healthcare institute. In our hospital advance joint replacement, including robotic joint replacement, is performed regularly; hence, we were able to handle this case with ease. "
Total hip replacement is a surgical procedure in which damaged portions of the hip joint are replaced with artificial components to relieve pain and restore mobility. The procedure is commonly recommended for patients with advanced arthritis or severe joint damage when medication, physiotherapy, and other conservative treatments fail to provide adequate relief.