NEW DELHI: Knee osteo-arthritis, on rise in Hyderabad and across the country. There are wide variations in treatments depending on the social, cultural and financial circumstance of patients and available health facilities, say doctors. Not everyone suffering from knee arthritis may end up needing knee replacement surgery.
“Knee osteoarthritis is one of the leading causes of pain and disability in India with an overall prevalence of around 30%. The incidence of knee osteoarthritis goes up by 50 to 70% among those above the age of 65 years. Knee replacement is a final treatment option for anyone with advanced knee arthritis with severe pain and after having tried out all nonoperative measures without much success,” said Dr Chandra Sekhar, senior consultant orthopaedic surgeon, at Max-Cure Hospitals in the city.
About 1/3rd of the patients who may benefit from a replacement surgery are actually suitable for unicompartmental (partial) knee replacement. The life of partial knee replacement is similar to that of a total knee replacement. There are other joint preserving options like osteotomies in young patients with single compartment involvement of the knee,” Dr Sekhar added.
Now, doctors point out how ayurveda is fast growing as a treatment for osteo-arthritis in its initial stages.
And it is known world-wide that if osteo-arthritis is in primary, secondary or even in some tertiary cases, ayurvedic treatments are better than joint replacement surgeries. In case of rheumatoid arthritis, every medical professional, irrespective of medical systems, unanimously agree that ayurveda is the best way forward than the highly dangerous steroids and its side effects,” said Dr. Saji D’Souza of KSAC hospital.