KARACHI, Nov 25: Experts at a workshop on Saturday recommended timely and systematic management of children affected with bone deformity problems to avoid further complications.

They further recommended increasing the involvement of parents, doctors, physiotherapists and nurses while handling such problems.

Senior orthopaedic surgeons and practitioners were speaking at the seminar-cum-workshop on “changes and challenges in paediatric orthopaedics”, organised by the Pakistan Orthopaedic Association (South) at the Liaquat National Hospital on Saturday.

Two hundred delegates from all over the country are participating in the event which will continue on Sunday as well.

Speaking as chief guest at the inaugural ceremony, orthopaedic surgeon Prof Zainul Abedin K Kazi said there was a dire need of developing paediatric orthopaedic speciality in the country.

Talking about early detection of deformity in children, he said effective management of children with deformities and nutritional disorders was possible when trained personnel, including nurses, were available at least at major public healthcare centres.

Prof Ali Mohammad Ansari highlighted various other diseases and discussed deformity among children and stated that timely diagnosis and management was a must.

Though it’s a painstaking process to deal with children’s problems, the paediatric orthopaedic surgeons have a major role to mitigate the sufferings of such patients, he said.

He said every paediatric congenital disease and deformity was genetically determined which travels from family to family. “The only way to stop such deformities and diseases of genetic origin is to control consensual marriages, especially when there is a family history of such diseases.”

Dr Khan Shah Azam, vice-president of the POA, said the seminar was a beginning of the systematic development of sub-specialities in orthopaedics. Dr Anisuddin Bhatti, coordinator of the seminar, also spoke.

During the technical session, senior surgeons addressed the core issues of common paediatric orthopaedic problems and their management.