HOSMAT (Hospital for Orthopaedics, Sports Medicine, Arthritis, Accident & Trauma) has become the first hospital in the country to install the computer navigated surface replacement software, which will prove to be far economical for patients in terms of cost of healthcare and recovery time. Brain Lab, Germany, develops the software, which is a pioneer in computer-navigated surgery. No details of the investment were disclosed.

The hospital is the first in the country to install this software to offer precision, minimal waste of time, faster recovery, better patient management and improved results in surface replacement surgeries. The surgeons at HOSMAT have already performed surface replacement surgeries of the hip and shoulder on the patients who would otherwise be forced to consider a traditional total hip replacement.

The hip resurfacing procedure is ideal for patients below the age of 50-55 years leading active lives, stated hospital sources.

Surface replacement hip is a procedure where only the diseased surface of the hip is covered by a cap. The surface of the head of the femur and acetabulum are replaced with a metal ball and a cup, respectively and femoral head is reshaped instead of being removed. Surface replacements offer patients the opportunity to preserve the maximum amount of natural bone stock.

While articular surface replacements as with all resurfacing procedures, the articulating surfaces or the surfaces that rub together are replaced with a highly polished metal. These metal articulations are proven to have low wear rate of surface and provide better motility.

The benefits of surface replacement surgery are that femoral head is preserved and there is no associated femoral bone loss with future revision.

The risk of micro fracture of femur with un-cemented cement implantation is eliminated. Larger size of implant ball reduces the risk of dislocation. Use of metal rather than plastic reduces the osteolysis and associated early loosening risk. Also use of metal has low wear rate with expected long implant lifetime.

The super specialty hospital of 350 beds is built at a project cost of over Rs. 200 million. It is undergoing an expansion phase to become a 500-bed hospital, making it the largest speciality hospital of its kind in Asia. It is the first orthopaedics and joint replacement hospital to receive the ISO9002 - TUV certification.