Chandigarh, Oct. 30 -- Scores of patients admitted to the orthopaedics department at the Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Sector 32, are facing inordinate delays in their implant surgeries due to the non-functional of a C-arm machine - a medical imaging device used during orthopaedic surgeries for real-time guidance.

The breakdown has disrupted the hospital's surgery schedule, forcing patients to wait two to three weeks for procedures that were earlier conducted within a week's time.

The C-arm machine, used for real-time imaging to guide the placement of screws, plates and rods in bone fractures, is vital for surgeries such as spinal fusion, laminectomy and vertebroplasty.

Officials allege that the crisis has emerged fro...