New Delhi | A Delhi hospital has performed a complex hip reconstruction surgery using a patient-specific 3D-printed implant on a 28-year-old man suffering from chronic infection and severe bone loss following multiple surgeries after a road accident.
According to the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, this was the first time the hospital had carried out such a procedure in an infected revision hip replacement case.
The hospital said the patient had suffered a serious pelvic injury in a road accident around 22 months ago and had undergone 10 surgeries, including fixation procedures, implant removals and infection-cleaning surgeries.
Despite prolonged antibiotic treatment, the patient continued to suffer from chronic infection, pus discharge and major bone loss, leaving the hip joint severely damaged, an official statement said.
The surgery was led by Dr Nipun Rana, Consultant, Joint replacement, along with a multidisciplinary team of doctors, the hospital said.
According to the statement, the medical team first identified the infection using the BioFire Joint Infection Panel, a PCR-based diagnostic test available at the hospital’s microbiology laboratory that can detect multiple pathogens from a single sample.
The infection was then treated through targeted antibiotics and surgical cleaning procedures before doctors carried out CT-based 3D reconstruction of the pelvis and designed a customised titanium implant for the patient.
The hospital said the six-hour surgery, which was the patient’s 11th operation, involved revision total hip replacement using a patient-specific implant created through 3D-printing technology.
It said the customised implant helped surgeons match the patient’s anatomy accurately and ensured better implant fitting and screw placement in an area with severe bone loss where conventional implants may not work effectively.
The patient showed early recovery within a week of surgery and currently has a stable hip joint with no active infection and improved mobility, the statement said.
“In complex cases like this, success lies not in rushing to replace the joint, but in respecting the infection, planning reconstruction meticulously, and executing it with precision,” Dr Rana said.
The hospital said the case highlighted the growing use of advanced technology and customised implants in complex joint reconstruction procedures in India.
