Thaindian News

New Delhi, Nov 13 (IANS) The first international congress of the Indian Cartilage Society (ICS) saw surgeons from the country and abroad put the focus on cartilage injuries - a common but much neglected medical problem.

As many as 115 senior arthroscopy surgeons from across India and countries like Iraq, Nepal, Bangladesh, Singapore and Afghanistan participated in the two-day conference that started Saturday.

“Cartilage repair, defect assessment or cartilage regeneration surgery is relatively new to us (India),” said Raju Vaishya, senior consultant orthopaedic surgeon, Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals, at the meet.

“Of late, with increasing awareness and new methods of diagnosis and treatment available to us, we hope the cartilage lesions would get better attention by the medical fraternity and public,” he added.

To spread awareness among the medical fraternity and make them understand the new developments in cartilage injuries and repair techniques, Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals, India’s biggest corporate hospital chain, organised the meet.

According to ICS, cartilage injuries are common but they have been deliberately ignored by most arthroscopy surgeons due to lack of knowledge and non-availability of satisfactory treatment modalities.

Vaishya said cartilage injuries are very common in joints like knees and young people involved in sports suffer these injuries. The new modern therapies and techniques will help in curing joint problems and prevent long-term disabilities like arthritis.

In a new technique, Autologous Chondrocyte Implantation (ACI), the body’s own cartilage cells are cultured and implanted into the damaged portion which can help patients recover faster, without having to undergo knee replacement surgeries.

“The new technique is also a boon for young people, particularly sportsmen, as they can get back to their feet within a few months. It prevents complications like osteoarthritis,” Vaishya said.