Rising osteoarthritis in India compels doctors to stress on need for more trained surgeons

New Delhi: Osteoarthritis is a clear sign of poor bone health that approaches primarily as one starts ageing. It affects the joints and people suffering from it complain of pain in joints, knee, hip, lower back, or neck and stiffness.

According to Wikipedia, osteoarthritis (OA) is a type of joint disease that results from breakdown of joint cartilage and underlying bone. It is a type of arthritis that occurs when flexible tissue at the ends of bones wears down.

India witnesses more than 10 million cases of osteoarthritis on an annual basis, however, the country is expected to turn into the osteoarthritis capital of the world by 2025 with over 60 million cases.

With this is mind, leading orthopaedic surgeons have stressed the urgent need for training of emerging surgeons as the cases of joint replacement surgeries are likely to rise.

Doctors say that with improvement in medical techniques, patients now have a better acceptance to the joint replacement surgeries but to maintain this, there is a need for better training of the orthopaedic surgeons across the country.

"Osteoarthritis is the most prevalent form of arthritis in India, affecting over 15 million adults every year. A large chunk of them have started opting for joint replacements... however, this can't be carried across the country due to the shortage of well trained orthopaedic surgeons," said Nishchal Chugh, Director and head of Centre for Joint Replacement at Saroj Superspecialty Hospital.

He said that the government should focus towards organising workshops on latest knee replacement surgeries for the emerging orthopaedic surgeons and create more medical colleges along with training centres.

Osteoarthritis occurs when there is damage in and around the joints that the body cannot fully repair. The exact causes are not known but there are several factors thought to increase the risk of developing the condition. According to doctors, though the current solution for osteoarthritis is surgery involving a transplant, only 10 percent of the Indians undergo it due to fear of late recovery till now.

Surveys have revealed that the reason behind the onset of this endemic is said to be increasing longevity of Indians. By 2020, the number of 65 and above population in India is likely to be about 177 million, whereas India had 100 million people in this age group in 2010.

Doctors said that with improvement in joint replacements, it is now a days being opted by an increasing number of young patients because of the durability, unlike some years ago.

"If a young patient knows that their replaced joint will last anywhere between 30-35 years, they can confidently go for it not worrying about whether they are too young for a joint replacement," said Ajai Singh, orthopaedic surgeon with the Ram Manohar Lohia hospital here.

Singh said that proper training of orthopaedic surgeons will help the osteoarthritis patients in rural areas, which is expected to have the 60 per cent of the disease's burden in the coming years.

(With IANS inputs)