Mumbai woman stands tall after docs give her a leg-up

Girgaum resident Pallavi Raut, 45, can now stand tall, literally. The past 11 years have seen her knees bend to the extent that her legs formed an ‘arc’. After corrective knee replacement surgery, her height has increased by one-and-half inches.

Raut was operated upon by Dr Shrinand Vaidya, an arthritis and joint replacement surgeon at Cumballa Hill hospital and his team on April 1.

For Raut, who is now undergoing physiotherapy, her life has changed drastically. “I was very conscious about wearing a salwar kameez as I wanted to hide my legs. Now I can confidently wear one,” she said excitedly.

Raut earlier had faced a lot of trouble while walking.

The two-storey daily climb to her house at Girgaum had become increasingly complicated and difficult. On examination, Dr Vaidya discovered that Raut’s knee was at an angle of 42 degrees outward to her calf. Normally, a knee is at an angle of five degrees to the calf.

“We normally see patients with knees that are 15-20 degrees outwards. Raut had delayed this surgery too long. The distance between the two knees had also become very large,” said Dr Vaidya.

Raut on her part confessed that she was too scared to undergo surgery.

“My brother-in-law, a general physician, heard Dr Vaidya in a lecture and decided that I should be treated by him,” she said.

“The operation was conducted with computer assistance. Information about the deformity was recorded on the computer which gave feedback. Raut’s kneecap was then scraped and metal implants were put in and the ligament, which had tightened over a period of time, was slowly released. The computer was guiding us constantly,” said Dr Vaidya.

Dr Ajay Chandanwale, the former head of orthopaedics department at JJ hospital said, “This is a routine surgery. We do it all the time.”