By Abdellatif Sharaa

KUWAIT: Dr Salama Ayyad, orthopedic and joint replacement consultant at Jaber Al-Ahmad Hospital, announced the success of the first double hip and knee joint replacement surgery in Kuwait. The patient is an 82-year-old man who was suffering from pain as a result of a fracture in the pelvic joint and severe osteoarthritis of the knee.

In normal circumstances, pelvic and knee joints are replaced in separate surgeries, but the patient was given the choice to combine them into one due to his condition, said Dr Ayyad. He added that an integrated medical team has performed, during the past three months, 63 pelvic and knee joint replacements. There are 20 cases on the list of surgeries at the hospital, said Dr Ayyad, which is a significant number. The team tries to cover surgeries at all supporting hospitals, including Al-Adan Hospital and Al-Jahra Hospital.

Dr Ayyad advised patients who need a pelvic joint replacement to get the surgery done without hesitation, as it is considered the best surgical intervention worldwide and is proven by scientific research, with positive results achieved more than 99 percent of the time.

He said all departments at Jaber Al-Ahmad Hospital cooperate in the interest of the patient. He added that the hospital has fully launched work in the orthopedic department since the end of the COVID-19 pandemic. The number of surgeries completed so far is still small, he said, because the team is waiting for equipment as it arrives gradually.