HEALTH

500 patients examined at camp
Our Correspondent

Mandi Ahmedgarh, April 9
Nearly 500 patients were examined at the opening of a three-day eye camp organised jointly by Ram Sharnam Ashram and Hind Hospital here today. It was inaugurated by Dr K.C. Goel, DHO, Sangrur.

Dr Navjot Singh Chugh has observed that major eye aliments, including myopia and hyper-metropia, were caused because of lack of education and concern among residents of rural and suburban areas about eye health care and malnutrition. Students of Warwick Medical University, West Midland, England, also participated in the camp.

Dr Chugh, Dr Manjit Singh and Dr Sumit Dhawan said the majority of patients examined by them had ignored eye health care.

“Besides ignoring proper hygiene care of eyes, they paid a little attention to nutritional constituents required for optimum vision,” maintained Neena Randhawa, a medical student.

As many as 120 persons were operated upon for implanting lenses. Medicines and spectacles were provided to the patients free of cost.

Mr Rakha Ram Verma, Mr Jagwant Singh Jaggie, Mr Mohinder Multani, Mr Kishori Lal Badhan and Mr Mangat Rai Jain addressed the gathering.

‘Computers a great help in
joint replacement surgery’
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, April 9
Dr Avtar Singh, an Amritsar-based orthopaedics surgeon, said that the advent of computer-assisted joint replacement technology had brought about a revolution in the joint replacement surgery. The most common cause of failure of joint with manual procedure was mal-alignment, which was prevalent among 30 to 40 per cent of the patients. With the introduction of the navigation system, the problem of faulty alignment of the joint had been completely eliminated and joint replacement made cent per cent accurate.

Dr Avtar Singh was delivering a lecture to orthopaedics surgeons and other members of medical fraternity, including members of the IMA, on “Latest advances in joint replacement” at the Ludhiana Club here last evening.

He remarked that the joint replaced with the computer-assisted navigation system had remarkably prolonged the life of the replaced joint vis-a-vis the manual procedure. Whereas the joint replaced with a manual procedure had a lifespan of around 10 to 12 years, the computer-assisted procedure had an expected life of between 20 to 30 years. "With improvement in the design of the implant, a patient can now comfortably fold the legs fully and sit cross-legged," he added.

Dr Avtar Singh further said that the latest techniques in joint replacement helped the surgeons to accurately and precisely align the artificial joint in the bone, which increased the longevity of the joint. Previously, after knee or hip joint replacement surgery, patients remained hospitalised for 10 to 15 days, while under this improved computer-assisted surgery, a patient can walk to his home within five days.

"A new technique of hip replacement, called surface replacement, has been developed for young patients. After this operation, the patient can sit cross-legged on the ground. The navigation system has been found to be very useful in revision arthroplasty patients, who, having undergone joint replacement earlier, face failure of the joint due to some reason."

Dr Avtar Singh maintained that “orthopilot navigation” (computer-assisted surgery) could help in the replacement of these joints accurately, leading to prolonged life of the artificial joint. The procedure (orthopilot navigation) had brought a new ray of hope for badly deformed joints, which now could be replaced very accurately without any complications, he stated.

SPORTS

SGPC gives aid to visually impaired players
Our Sports Correspondent

Ludhiana, April 9
The SGPC has fulfilled its promise to provide financial assistance to the Punjab cricket team (visually impaired), which will be touring Pakistan to take part in five one-day international matches there against Punjab XI of Pakistan at Lahore, Islamabad, Rawalpindi and Shekhupura from April 16 to 25.

The SGPC will bear the cost of Rs 1.25 lakh to purchase sports kits and uniforms for the members of the team. This was announced by Mr Surinder Singh Baddowal, member of the SGPC, and Mr Darshan Singh Shivalik, in charge, Dakha, at a function organised at Mehtab House, Barewal, near here, today.

It may be mentioned that a delegation of the Punjab Association for Blind Sportspersons (PABS) had called on Mr Avtar Singh Makkar, president, SGPC, last month and urged him to extend help to the Punjab team touring the neighbouring nation.

A message from the SGPC president ,who is currently in the United Kingdom, was read out during the function, which said that in future also, the committee would continue to provide all sorts of help to the disabled sportspersons so that they, too, could enjoy games like normal persons.

While expressing gratitude towards Mr Makkar for providing help to the team, Mr Gurpreet Singh Machhaiwara, general secretary, PABS, said the team would try to bring laurels to the state by winning the friendly series.

The Punjab squad will assemble here at Guru Nanak Stadium on April 13 prior to its departure for Pakistan, Mr Gurpreet Singh informed.