Agartala, Nov 24: The medical teams of Agartala Government Medical College (AGMC) and GBP hospital, the prime referral healthcare facility of Tripura, are silently reaching the milestone of success with improved medical services.

The doctors and the other medical staff working in the hospital have been making various critical surgeries possible for the past two-three years, setting a new benchmark in the history of Tripura's healthcare.

The people of the state couldn't even imagine a ‘total hip replacement' in AGMC and GBP hospital till a few years ago. But, such surgery is now possible in the hospital and the first successful operation of hip replacement has already been conducted in the last week.

A team of experts conducted the surgery of a 50-year-old female patient- Brindabati Chakma. The surgery took around three and half hours.

Principal surgeon of Orthopaedic Unit-II Dr. Santosh Reang, Orthopaedic spine surgeon Dr. Sachlang Debbarma, Dr. Abhishek Majumder, Dr. Pulak Saha and Dr. Arup Das along with Dr. Tushar Majumder (Anaesthesiologist) and Dr. Chayan Bhowmik (Anaesthesiologist) were part of the surgical team.

“The patient was presented with severe hip pain due to osteoarthritis caused by avascular necrosis,” said Dr. Sachlang Debbarma in a quick chat.

He added that the patient had consulted with a private hospital outside the state for the same but she had to move back due to costly operative procedure.

After medical examinations, the surgery was initiated in consultation with Dr. Bhupesh Shil (Orthopaedic surgeon) and Dr. Bhaskar Majumder (Anaesthesiologist).

According to hospital sources, the surgery has been done with spinal and epidural anaesthesia at the right side of the patient's waist and she is now doing well.

The patient party had to spend only Rs. 70,000 for hip joint implant while the surgery was performed at free of cost. According to a health expert, the expenditure for such surgeries in any private hospital touches Rs. 3.5 to 4 lakh on an average.

The patient and her family are happy and they thanked the doctors who are building a strong faith among the common people about the government healthcare services through their progress. The hospital authority has congratulated the entire team for this achievement.

When such achievement comes into discussion, the government's special focus on the public health system and the dedicated service being rendered by the healthcare professionals can't be left unspoken. (Courtesy: Fit Northeast)