Gurugram, Jul 26 (IANS): Doctors at the Fortis Memorial Research Institute in Gurugram have successfully conducted the largest custom-made 3D printed hip implant in India on a 60-year-old Tanzanian patient.

The customised implant was required as the pelvic bone of Hanifa, the patient, had been badly damaged due to three previous hip surgeries.

The three failed hip replacement surgeries left very little bone support for the new, readily available hip implant. The hip prosthesis was lying loose in the pelvis and the patient was not even able to sleep because of the pain due to constant irritation of the surrounding muscles around the implant.

Hanifa was wheelchair-bound and could barely go to the washroom with the support of a walker. Her leg became short by 6 cm because of the damage to the pelvic bone.

The doctors at Fortis conducted several tests. After two weeks of intense deliberations, the team was fully satisfied and confident about the prototype prosthesis. The final prosthesis came after 15 days with all certifications and quality checks.

The challenging surgery took almost seven hours as the doctors negotiated safely through the old scar tissue and preserved all the important nerves, vessels, urinary bladder and other important pelvic organs.

"This is the first time that such a large 3D printed customised implant has been used for a hip surgery in India. Such cases are very rare and complicated. We had to do a meticulous dissection of the important vessels and nerves supplying the limb as they were very close to old prosthesis and embedded in the scar tissue of the previous surgery," Subhash Jangid, Director and Unit Head, Bone and Joint Institute, Fortis Memorial Research Institute, Gurugram, said in a statement.

"Any damage to these important structures would have disastrous consequences as either the limb may get paralysed or severe bleeding from major intra pelvic vessels can be life threatening. We were able to save all the important vessels, nerves and intra pelvic organs of the patient," he added.

Hanifa's post-operative recovery period was very smooth. She started walking with support from the next day with equal limb lengths (her 6 cm shortened leg was made equal with this surgery). The stitches were removed after three weeks. She started walking with the support of a cane after six weeks of surgery, Jangid said.

Soon after that, she was also flown to her home country via a special flight.