Avascular Necrosis now curable without surgery

MUMBAI: The patients suffering from painful Avascular Necrosis (AVN) can now heave a sigh of relief as they won’t have to go through an expensive and painful surgery; instead they can just pop a pill to cure themselves. The AVN of the bone is an extremely painful and progressively disabling disorder and when left untreated, it leads to hip arthritis. However, it is now made curable by medication due to the efforts of Dr Sanjay Agarwala of Hinduja Hospital. Dr Agarwala for last 10 years has used the key drug ‘Alendronate’, a bisphosphonate, in over 400 patients to treat AVN of the hip, thus relieving them from the pain and perhaps avoiding the need for a surgery. Till now the most common way of treatment of AVN was hip replacement surgery. But, the drug ‘Alendronate’ prevents bone resorption and is most commonly and normally used to treat osteoporosis. ‘The good news for the AVN patients is that the cost of this treatment is approximately Rs 150 per month and it prevents an expensive Rs one Lakh surgery and the pain,’ said Dr Agarwala while addressing a news conference here on Tuesday. Describing the treatment, he said, it is a simple medication process where the patient just needs to take the tablet daily, weekly or as prescribed by the doctor. Medication also can be carried out by Intravenous therapy, in case the patient is not comfortable with tablet, he said and pointed that the success rate of the treatment for the patient of Grade 1 is 95 per cent, Grade 2 is 75 per cent, Grade 3 is 60-40 per cent and Grade 4 is arthritis which needs surgery. Citing examples of his two AVN patients, Dr Agarwala said that Jignesh Shah was suffering from AVN Grade 2. In 2006 he visited him, after visiting eight other doctors, and remained under treatment for the next three years till 2009. Now, he is leading a perfectly normal life and has climbed 3,364 steps of Palitana Temple. In another case, Abhijit Bhabe, a Grade 3 AVN patient, is under medication for two and half years and is now carrying out day to day activity along side cycling, gyming and dancing. The AVN remedial treatment has been done on over 400 patients effectively, he informed. Dr Agarwala was awarded by Journal of the Association of Physicians of India for his work on AVN treatment.