Mr Raghbir Khakha’s derotational tibial osteotomy surgery on Janet’s tibia realigns her leg and restores it to full, pain-free function.

Janet’s life has been ‘transformed’ since undergoing knee realignment surgery with Mr Raghbir Khakha. From struggling to walk short distances she can now walk for miles again.

In 2018, Janet slipped and fell while getting off a train and injured her knee. Following X-rays, MRI scans and an exploratory arthroscopy, she underwent a procedure to realign her tibial tuberosity (protrusion at the top of the tibia (shinbone)). However, her condition only seemed to deteriorate, and therefore her surgeon referred her to Mr Raghbir Khakha to see if he could use his experience and expertise to alleviate her symptoms.

Janet was finding walking extremely difficult, was unable to bear weight on her right leg when it was straight and going up stairs or inclines proved problematic. Her leg would occasionally even seize up when going up a flight of stairs. In short, her condition was having a huge impact on her everyday life. She was unable to continue doing her job as a bank trainer because she struggled with her daily commute and couldn’t stand for long periods when presenting.  Fortunately, her employer was understanding and found a more suitable, sedentary role for her.

Nevertheless, Janet’s problems beyond the workplace persisted and she went from a person who enjoyed a ten-mile hike most weekends to being unable to walk more than a quarter of a mile without serious discomfort. She even struggled with the supermarket shop.

Having been through unsuccessful treatment prior to being referred to Mr Khakha, Janet’s expectations were initially rather low and she wasn’t optimistic that he would be able to resolve her problem and return her to her previous quality of life. However, on meeting Mr Khakha her confidence grew. He reassured her that he could help her and explained that the initial realignment procedure to her tibial tuberosity had in fact exacerbated her problems with the movement of her foot when walking and concluded that she was suffering with an external rotation deformity. He also took time to detail the corrective surgery he was recommending and its likely outcome, before performing a derotational tibial osteotomy – a procedure to derotate her tibia to make it point in the correct direction.

Seven months after her surgery, Janet says: “Right now the knee feels absolutely amazing. I have only minimal discomfort and that is just from the plate but that is due to come out. I haven’t taken a pain killer in over six months.”

She adds: “Now I have my life back. I can stand just on my right leg with it fully straight. I can walk up and down stairs pretty much normally and best of all I can once again walk long distances. So happy am I with my progress that I have now been able to buy a puppy as I am once again confident in my ability to look after him!”

Mr Khakha says: “Having corrected her alignment, all of Janet’s symptoms have completely resolved. All the pain she was getting at the front of the knee has completely gone and she is walking really long distances now. She has even got herself a puppy that she can do long walks with, so she is absolutely delighted with the procedure.”

Janet concludes with these words for those suffering with similar problems: “My advice would be to put your faith in Mr Khakha. The anticipation of the surgery and how I would be after was so much worse than the reality. Do not suffer unnecessarily. Throughout my journey Mr Khakha and his team did everything to support and reassure me – nothing was too much trouble. To say the surgery has been a success is an understatement – I have gone from very limited mobility to full mobility walking for miles and miles. The level of care and consideration has remained first class throughout my aftercare. I can’t recommend Mr Khakha enough. My life really has been transformed.”