Like many other talented sportspersons in the state, 29-year-old Trishan Malngiang thought the world had come crashing on him on December 24, 2022, when he was involved in an on-field mishap while playing football his passion at Polo Ground.
As a result of the trauma, Malngiang, a staffer at the office of the Director General of Police (DGP), Meghalaya began developing severe pain and instability in walking. He resorted to conventional treatment with pain killers and traditional conservative therapy, but all in vain aggravating the injury further. Efforts to get proper treatment though available locally turned out to be too dear for him with not much resource as according to a private hospital, the surgery would approximately cost over Rs 4 lakh.
But fortunately for him, he saw the light at the end of the tunnel when some friends who had successfully come through similar sports injuries suggested he pay a visit to the Orthopaedics Department of Shillong Civil Hospital which over the years has been silently serving the people of the state and successfully taking them to full recovery. Towards the end of January this year, Malngiang met with Orthopaedic Surgeon Dr. Wanlam Khongwir who after intensive investigations concluded that surgery was required as the patient was having acute Posterior Cruciate ligament injury in his left knee and the longer it was kept unattended; the future outcome of the patient was not bright.
Accordingly, Dr. Khongwir began indenting a range of implements and gadgets from Mumbai to prepare for the procedure, as they were not readily available in the North East because the surgery was not regularly performed in this part of the country.
With everything in place, the patient was admitted to the hospital on March 18, 2023 and after being administered physiotherapy to build up muscle strength and to achieve full range of movement before undergoing operation, on March 21, 2023, a team of orthopaedic surgeons comprising of Dr. Wanlamkupar Khongwir and Dr. N. P. Laloo and anaesthetists Dr. H Majaw and Dr. M Surong performed the first-of-its-kind Arthroscopic Posterior Cruciate Ligament (PCL) on Malngiang. The surgery went off smoothly and postoperative was uneventful.
It may be mentioned that this surgery is the first-of-its-kind in Meghalaya performed at a government health facility by government doctors thus earning Shillong Civil Hospital another feather to its already illustrious cap.
Now convalescing in the hospital post-surgery, Trishan can’t wait to hit the pitch again, albeit with extra caution now. “I am grateful to my doctors who treated me, they understood my pain, and were very cooperative and compassionate; even the nurses too,” Malngiang said. He added, “I had given up hope as I didn’t have enough money for the surgery at a private hospital, but here the whole procedure cost me only a fraction of the amount well within my means. This is very good news for sportspersons in the state, I am grateful to Shillong Civil Hospital.”
An elated Dr. Khongwir said this harbingers good news for sports persons in Meghalaya who often encounter all sorts of sports injuries from time to time, with some having to end their playing career, either as an amateur or professional abruptly.
Sports injuries are quite common in sports-loving Meghalaya especially ligament injuries around the knee. The most common are the Anterior Cruciate ligament injuries and the meniscus injuries. Knee ligament injuries can occur during sports or when sustained in a road traffic accident. Most of the cases received at Civil Hospital are sports related, with the most common being through football. The least is the Posterior cruciate ligament (PCL), the kind performed on Malngiang.
“This is an important milestone in the field of sports injury orthopaedic care in our state where many such cases in the past had to be referred outside, but these cases now can be done in our state therefore benefiting the local community,” Dr. Khongwir said, adding, “In the past three years many arthroscopic surgeries have been done successfully in Civil Hospital Shillong, but this is the most complicated ever performed so far, so yes we are very happy and satisfied.”
Lauding his team of surgeons, doctors, and para medical staff, senior most Surgeon, Dr. N. P. Laloo expressed joy at the steady progress made by the hospital’s orthopaedic department of which he has been a part of for over two decades. “We started very small, and some of the machines here are as old as when I joined, but gradually with more skilled surgeons coming into the fold, we are able to start using them in performing scores of surgeries, including some very complicated ones,” he said, “But this is the first of its kind in the State at a government hospital which is very good news for our people especially those from the economically weaker section.”
He revealed that the department is now focussing on the geriatric age group having orthopaedic problems requiring advanced care and treatment. “In this regard complex surgeries like total hip, knee and elbow replacements are being performed frequently in Civil Hospital Shillong with exceptionally good results. Many elderly patients have benefited and walk again happily and painlessly,” he elaborated.
“We are very keen to start spine surgery and we hope in the near future with the support of the health department and the Government our dream comes true,” remarked Dr. Laloo.
Echoing similar sentiments, the hospital’s Surgeon Superintendent, Dr. Andrias Dkhar said,“We are trying our best to make it better but there are many factors that limit our aim, the most significant one being space constraint, adequate water and power supply,”. But he said the silver lining is that patients have to spend minimally and if their Health Smart Card is up to date with Adhaar linkage, treatment and medicines are practically free, except for private room which is chargeable at nominal government prescribed rates.
Principal Secretary Health Sampath Kumar said the government is not holding back in augmenting the health infrastructure in the state with Civil Hospital Shillong being the primary focussed. “The government under the leadership of the Chief Minister and the health minister is committed to achieving this and I will tell you this, in the next three years many positive changes will come into being. As reflected in the recent budget allocation, we will be augmenting the number of doctors, specialists, para medical staff, equipment etc. so that proper health care is accorded to our citizens,” Kumar assured.
