Doc to the rescue

KALYAN ASHOK

SPORTS MEDICINE With sportspersons being prone to injuries, doctors with expertise are busy. Here’s what Dr. Alejandro Badia says:

Sports and injuries go hand in hand. From motor racing to golf, from tennis to football, athletics to archery, you na
the sport, there is always a risk of an injury, especially if it happens to be a contact sport. And one of the most diffic
and delicate process of treatment, involves the wrist injuries, which needs high expertise. Among the world’s top sp
surgeons is Dr. Alejandro Badia, a Florida-based surgeon, who has a high specialty wrist, hand, upper limb and
shoulder injury centre.
He is also the president of the ISSPORTH (International Society for Sport traumatology of the hand), an internation
body comprising specialists from different countries across the world (including the US, Brazil, Australia, Germany
Portugal, Italy, Norway, Estonia and United Kingdom). He was in Bangalore recently and later conducted a semina
ISSPORTH in Delhi.
In a media interaction with Metro Plus, he spoke on his work.

Which hand injury is more prevalent among sportspersons and hard to diagnose?
There are multiple injuries but mainly to finger joints and wrists. It can include a cartilage (TFCC) tear like the
meniscus in knee, and ligament injuries connecting carpal bones in wrists that are hard to diagnose.
How do you diagnose and treat?

It depends on the area. For example, shoulder injuries needs MRI imaging. In wrist injuries, we do an arthroscopy
where a small camera is put in joints of wrist to diagnose and treat.
I understand the Indian tennis star Sania Mirza was treated by you? What exactly was her problem

Has she been having recurrent injuries?
I did a wrist arthroscopy nearly five years ago when she was having severe problems with dominant wrist and pain w
her brutal forehand. She had injury to the capsule. We repaired via scope and she won in first round of Wimbledon
only eight weeks later

Who are the other major sports personalities you have treated for hand injuries?
It includes tennis players, Juan del Potro, KeplerOrellana (Venezuela), JelenaDokic, Hugo Armando (US and
Argentina), many golfers, some cricketers from Trinidad, Barbados and polo players. Dr. Badia can be contacted at
drbadia.com.and alejandro@drbadia.com
KALYAN ASHOK