Al-Ahli Hospital conducts knee replacement surgery

Al-Ahli Hospital (AAH) has successfully carried out a total knee replacement on a Ghanaian who was suffering from severe osteoarthritis of both knee joints.
Orthopaedics and traumatology department clinical director and consultant Dr.  Emmanuel Tolessa and orthopaedic team carried out the surgery on the woman.
Osteoarthritis, also known as degenerative arthritis or degenerative joint disease, is a group of mechanical abnormalities involving degradation of joints, including articular cartilage and subchondral bone.
Symptoms may include joint pain, tenderness, stiffness, locking and sometimes an effusion.
A variety of causes - hereditary, developmental, metabolic, and mechanical - may initiate processes leading to loss of cartilage.
AAH medical director Dr. Abdul Azim Abdul Wahab Hussain said: “We at Al-Ahli are keen to make our orthopaedic department a centre of excellence not only in Qatar but also in the entire Middle East.”
He commended Dr. Tolessa and his team.
“These types of surgeries will not only help the local population but will also create an opportunity for the people in the Middle East to use Al-Ahli for knee replacements,” he said.
Dr. Tolessa explained that the woman came to hospital with chronic pain in both knee joints.
“Although, she had undergone realignment surgery for her knee cap in her home country, she continued to suffer with her quality of life affected and especially restricted in walking, kneeling, and bending. I arranged a bilateral knee replacement and today she is able walk freely,” he said.
He explained that the procedure was performed under general anesthesia and there was minimum blood loss.
“Many times, residents of Qatar, who suffer similar problems, travel abroad to get this procedure done. But they can now benefit from AAH having successfully carried it out here,” he added.