Spine Clinic Opened At CMCH

Coimbatore Medical College Hospital Dean (in-charge) V. Kumaran (right) and orthopaedic surgeon S. Dhandapani (second right) talking to a spine surgery patient during the opening of the Spine Clinic of the hospital on Friday. The Coimbatore Medical College Hospital (CMCH) opened a Spine Clinic on Friday to provide special focus on cases such as spinal fractures, tuberculosis and stenosis (narrowing of spinal canal).

Dean (In-Charge) V. Kumaran told presspersons that this initiative would help provide specialised care to poor patients suffering from spine-related problems. Consultant Orthopaedic and Spine Surgeon S. Dhandapani said the clinic would function from 11 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. on Fridays to examine new cases and review patients who had undergone spine surgery. “But, surgeries will be performed on all days,” he said.

“We need to popularise the clinic, as people should know that the CMCH is performing complicated spine surgeries,” he said. Dr. Dhandapani cited three different cases to point out that spine surgery could be successful in a Government hospital also. R. Manjula (31) contracted tuberculosis in the spine soon after being delivered of a child in November. This turned her paraplegic (with both legs paralysed). “Immunity level is very low in women soon after delivery. They are vulnerable to infections during this time. That is when Ms. Manjula also was affected,” the surgeon said.

Two inches of her spinal bone had crumbled because of the tuberculosis. And, crushed bones had caused an injury to the spinal cord. This had resulted in the paralysis in the legs. The affected portion of the bone was removed and replaced with a healthy one from the hip. “Now she is able to move her legs,” the surgeon said. J. Murthy (24), a plantation worker at Valparai, fell from a tree and suffered a spine fracture. Broken bones pierced the spinal cord and left him paraplegic. The broken bones were set right in a surgery that could cost Rs.1.5 lakh in a private hospital, Dr. Dhandapani said.

For Mr. Murthy, who earned Rs.50 a day, it was done free of cost. K. Ayyappan, a watchman, had been in a crouched position since May because of the spinal canal narrowing to 5 mm diametre from the normal 12 mm. Called stenosis, this prevented Mr. Ayyappan from standing erect. “I could not bear the pain and had even thought of committing suicide. But, now I can stand and walk properly,” he said.Dr. Dhandapani said that the Department of Orthopaedics at the hospital had been doing spine surgeries for the last two years. “We are citing these cases now so that poor people can be informed of the specialised spine treatment they can get in this hospital.”

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