A private hospital in Delhi successfully implanted a customised hip which was designed and 3D-printed at the facility. A 32-year-old Iraqi woman with a tumour in her left hip had received an ortho implant to reconstruct her left pelvic section. 

Dr Surender Dabas, senior director and head of Surgical Oncology and Robotic Surgery, BLK-Max Super Speciality Hospital stated that it was a complex procedure as the patient had undergone prior surgery for removal of the tumour in the same place in Turkey. As a result, her left pelvis had a lot of scar tissue which made it difficult to re-explore. Dr Dabas added that the use of 3D printing technology to reconstruct customised ortho implants such as the left pelvis in the female patient’s case “is a leap in ortho-onco surgeries, including spinopelvic tumours”.

The surgery took over 11 hours in total, 4 hours for tumour removal and another 7 to reconstruct and put the titanium implant. The doctors at the facility stated that the patient is expected to return to her near-normal unsupported gait around three to four months with rehabilitation therapy.