HEALTH

Indian centres drawing overseas patients
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, June 9
D. Hussain (27), a Mauritius resident and suffering from lumbar slipped disc for two years, came looking for treatment after doctors in his country failed to treat pain, weakness and numbness of legs.

Doctors there advised him to opt for endoscopic disc surgery, which is so far available in Europe and select countries in Asia.

“I found out about Arthroscopy and Spinal Endoscopy Centre, Chandigarh, a centre specialising in arthroscopic surgery and spinal endoscopic surgery, from the Internet. I just knew I had to come to India for the surgery,” he says.

He is the second foreign national in past three months to visit the centre for endoscopic disc surgery.

Dr Mohinder Kaushal, a specialist at the centre said: “Three months back a woman from Denmark visited us with the same problem. The primary reason for these patients coming to India is that these surgeries are not available in their native countries and they avoid going to Europe because of high treatment cost. The acceptance for spinal surgeries in India is still very low though there is change in mindset among patients in the 30 to 40 years age bracket.”

Holding that minimally invasive procedures were making sweeping changes in the field of spine surgery, Dr Kaushal stated that minimally invasive techniques were beneficial for patients with slipped disc, spinal fracture and spinal infection.

Conventionally, these discs were removed by open procedures with more tissue and bone removal.

Spine surgeons could now remove herniated intervertebral discs in the lumbar spine, which put pressure on the spinal nerve roots and caused pain, in a minimally invasive fashion using micro endoscopic techniques.

The advantages of the endoscopic disc surgery compared to conventional surgery were smaller incision and less damage to the muscles and ligaments of the spinal column.

The surgeon exposed the area where the herniated disc was located without making a large incision. Patients were routinely operated in the morning and discharged in the evening.

There was faster recovery after the surgery as there was minimal damage to the spine muscles compared to the conventional method.

Surjewalas donate Maruti vans to PGI
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, June 9
Mr Randeep Singh Surjewala, Transport Minister, Haryana, and his father, Mr Shamsher Singh Surjewala, Haryana MLA and former Haryana Minister, donated two Maruti vans in memory of Ganga Singh Surjewala to the PGIMER. The vans will help in transportation of poor patients within the campus. The keys and papers of these vans were handed over to Prof K.K.Talwar, Director, PGIMER.

Mr Randeep Singh Surjewala had in a recent meeting with PGIMER Director Prof K.K.Talwar offered to donate these vans to facilitate poor patients coming to the health institute from far-flung areas for treatment. 

Host of facilities at hospital
Tribune News Service

Mohali, June 9
Desh Bhagat Ayurvedic College and Hospital’s newly opened branch Desh Bhagat Hospital and Panchkarm Centre at Mandi Gobindgarh has started working.

Dr Loveleen Kaur, Principal, said the centre was providing various facilities like treatment through Keraliya Panchkarma, obesity clinic and treatment of piles and fistulas without operation. 

SPORTS

AG badminton semifinal line-up
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, June 9
Defending champions AG Tamil Nadu, AG Nagaland, AG Bihar and AG Rajasthan sailed into the semifinals (team event) by winning their matches against AG Punjab, AG MP, AG UP and AG AP, respectively, of the All-India Inter Zonal Audit and Accounts Department Badminton Championship, which began at the Indoor Badminton Hall of Sports Complex, Sector 42, here today.

In the women’s singles quarter-finals, Saroj Chaudhary of AG Haryana moved into the semifinals by defeating Jeanita Warjri of AG Meghalaya by 21-3, 21-3 in a one-sided affair.

Earlier, Principal Accountant General (Audit) Punjab & UT Chandigarh, Sunil Verma declared the meet open.

The results: First quarter-final: AG Tamil Nadu beat AG Punjab 3-2 (1st singles: Ashish Sharma beat T. Maran 21-13, 21-5; 2nd singles: K.R. Sivakumar beat Amit Sachdeva 19-21, 21-13, 21-10; 3rd singles: S.S. Kannan beat Vikas Sharma 21-9, 21-5; 1st doubles: Amit/Ashish beat SS Kannan/K.R. Sivakumar 19-21, 21-13, 21-10; 2nd doubles: S.S. Kannan/R. Srinivas Reddy beat Luv Kumar/Vikas 21-9, 21-9).

Second quarter-final: AG Nagaland beat AG MP 3-2 (1st singles: Amardeep Gurang beat Pranav Kumar 21-5, 21-6; 2nd singles: T. Yabang Longkumar beat Arvind by 21-17, 21-8; 1st doubles: T.Y. Longkumar/Areb Aao beat Arvind/Rajiv Shukla 21-9, 21-14).

Third quarter-final: AG Bihar beat AG UP 3-2 (1st singles: Shafaq Nawab Khan beat Sandeep Tiwari by 16-21, 21-18, 21-13; 2nd singles: Utsav Mishra beat Kanishka Das by 21-10, 21-10; 3rd singles: Nimesh Kr. Singh beat Deepak Saxena by 21-9, 22-20; 1st doubles: Utsav Mishra/Salil Srivastava beat Anuj Kr. Singh/Kaishka Das by 21-5, 21-7; 2nd doubles: Nimesh Kr. Singh/Shafaq Nawab Khan beat Deepak/Amit Saxena by 21-19, 21-14).

Fourth quarter-final: AG Rajasthan beat AG Andhra Pradesh 3-0 (1st singles: Anil Kumar beat G. Tirupati by 21-5, 21-8; 2nd singles: Ranbir Singh beat K. Jaykar Babu 21-1, 21-3; 1st doubles: Parveen Yadav/Anil Kumar beat G. Tirupati/K. Jaykar Babu 21-9, 21-7).

Women’s singles: Saroj Chaudhary beat Jeanita Warjri 21-3, 21-3.

Preeti excels on 2nd day of tae-kwon-do tourney

Panchkula, June 9
Preeti of Haryana bagged the first place in the junior women14-17 age category on the second day of the national tae-kwon-do championship held at the Tau Devi Lal Complex, Sector 3, here today.

The results: Girls:

Fly weight (under 10, 18-20 kg): Phajabi 1, Kajal 2, Shaina 3, Simi 4;

Fin category (under 10, up to 18 kg): Sanjeeta 1, Pooja 2, Malavika 3 Lavanaski 4;

Subjunior: Jyothi 1, Rama 2, Anubha 3, Aarti 3;

Junior: Preeti 1, Indu 2, Khushboo 3, Tejinder 4;

Boys: Fin category (under 10, up to 20 kg): Jaya Panday 1, Naresh 2, Saurabh 3, Kishore 4;

Bantam weight category (Under 10, 22-24 kg) : Suhas 1, Gaurav 2, Ajit 3, Firoz 4. — TNS

Workshop for coaches
Tribune News Service

Mohali, June 9
The Punjab Cricket Association is going to hold a two-day workshop for its Regional Coaching Centers’ coaches from tomorrow at PCA Cricket Stadium, here. D.P. Azad, coach and Chairman of the Coaching Committee of the association will conduct the workshop. Mr M.P. Pandove, Hony. Joint Secretary, BCCI, will inaugurate the workshop.