Hip problems common among COVID-hit youth

Express News Service

NEW DELHI: An increase in Avascular Necrosis (AVN) in hips post-COVID was seen among youngsters in the recent past, said the doctors.According to Spinal Injuries Center doctors, the use of high-dose steroids for treating COVID-19 led to an increase in these cases.

Doctors said that since October last year, 15-20 AVN or Osteonecrosis cases have been reported. “The cases increased 5-10 times more during the pandemic as compared to the pre-pandemic time when only 2-4 cases were recorded,” said Dr Vivek Mahajan, senior consultant, Orthopaedic and Joint Replacement Surgeon at Indian Spinal Injuries centre. 

According to a senior resident doctor of Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, the unmonitored use of steroids for COVID-19 treatment led to an increase and patients complained about back or hip pain.

“In many cases, patients having mild COVID symptoms also developed AVN as they were given high-dose steroids over a short period of time. Many youngsters complained of severe hip pain which later was diagnosed as osteonecrosis. We advise doctors not to use steroids on patients having mild symptoms as it causes severe complications,” he added. 

In January, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) submitted a proposal to the Indian Council of Medical Research seeking approval for a multi-centric study to cases of AVN among COVID-19 recovered patients and to find a clinical explanation.AIIMS detected around AVN cases in around 50 COVID-19 recovered patients.  

However, ICMR officials said that the project was not funded due to various reasons. According to ICMR epidemiologist Samiran Panda, post-COVID AVN was seen in many cases but the root cause behind it is still not known.

“Every case needs to be studied. We cannot say that the reason behind AVN is COVID. It happens in certain age group and certain gender,” said Dr Panda. Dr. Panda said that thousands of proposals are submitted but they do not necessarily get funded.