Hip relaced for 98 ys old women
K.G. Hospital Chairman G. Bakthavathsalam (right) with Mangalam after she underwent the hip replacement surgery.A 98-year-old woman with heart and kidney problems was taken up for a hip replacement surgery at K.G. Hospital here despite the risks to her life from the two ailments.Mangalam from Kuniamuthur here had a serious heart ailment called tight mitral stenosis (a serious valve defect) in her heart. The heart was functioning only to 25 per cent of its capacity. She also had kidney failure.But, she was mentally alert and physically active in her daily chores. Therefore, a fracture in her hip needed to be fixed to ensure she was not bedridden.Hospital Chairman G. Bakthavathsalam said in a release that she slipped in the toilet and suffered a fracture. Old people suffered from a bone thinning disease (osteoporosis) – wherein calcium got absorbed and the bones became brittle.The weak bones broke with the slightest of stress. This was also called pathological fracture or spontaneous fracture.Ms. Mangalam was evaluated by two orthopaedic surgeons E. Shankar and A. Mariadass, cardiologists M.J. Farook and C. Balasubramaniam, Nephrologist R. Balasubramaniyam, Anaesthesiologists S. Srilatha and R. Senthil, Intensivists, J. Jayasakeela and K. Kavitha and Geriatrist, G. Lakshmipathy.
Age, the heart and kidney problems she already suffered from and the fracture required evaluation by such a multi-disciplinary team of specialists.A hip x-ray showed a fracture. A hip replacement surgery was decided as the appropriate treatment.According to the release, the anaesthesiologists had said that she was a high risk candidate.But if surgery was not done, she would be bedridden and develop bedsores and pneumonia. She would live only for a month.After discussing with her relatives the risks involved if the surgery was done or even if it was not, the doctors put her through a successful hip replacement procedure.The post-operative period also passed off without any complications, the release said. Seven days after the surgery, Ms. Mangalam was fit to go home on Thursday.
