Karachi: In a historic first, surgeons at Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) Karachi have successfully performed a complex knee replacement surgery on a 26-year-old cancer patient, offering him a new lease on life by fitting a high-cost artificial knee implant entirely free of charge.
The four-hour operation marks the first time in the hospital’s history that bone cancer of the knee was treated with an artificial implant, a procedure that normally costs over Rs. 3.5 million in private hospitals.
According to lead surgeon Dr. Farrukh, the young patient was suffering from an aggressive cancer that had spread through the knee and lower leg bones.
“The cancer had eaten away the knee and extended below, leaving us with the option of either amputating the leg or attempting this highly complex reconstructive surgery,” he explained.
The medical team opted for limb-sparing surgery with a prosthetic implant, a procedure that is increasingly performed in developed countries but remains rare in Pakistan due to cost and expertise barriers.
Bone cancers such as osteosarcoma and Ewing’s sarcoma, while relatively rare compared to breast or lung cancer, are often diagnosed in children and young adults.
Globally, osteosarcoma affects about 3 out of every 1 million people annually, while in Pakistan exact prevalence remains unknown due to limited cancer registries.
Experts believe hundreds of young patients face amputations each year simply because advanced implants and oncology reconstructive options are beyond reach for ordinary families.
“The artificial knee used in this surgery normally costs Rs. 1 to 1.1 million, but the hospital arranged it free of cost,” Dr. Farrukh said. “Such implants, widely used in Europe and North America, can last 20 to 25 years, giving the patient a near-normal quality of life.”
He added that all post-surgery tests showed the patient to be cancer-free for now, with close monitoring planned in the coming months.
The operation was conducted by a multidisciplinary team including orthopedic surgeons Dr. Farrukh, Dr. Muzaffar, Dr. Wali, Dr. Shahid and Dr. Khushal, while plastic surgeons Dr. Agha Waseem, Dr. Mahak, Dr. Komal and Dr. Farooq performed the reconstructive work.
Cancer remains a growing challenge in Pakistan, where an estimated 185,000 new cancer cases are reported annually, according to the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC).
Among them, bone cancers represent a small fraction but carry devastating consequences for young patients. Experts say the JPMC surgery is a beacon of hope and underlines the urgent need for investment in orthopedic oncology to save young lives from disability and despair.
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