A high-risk surgery was successfully performed on a 102-year-old man at a private hospital here. The “rare bipolar hip replacement surgery” was performed to correct the fractured neck of the left femur of the centenarian patient.
Balakrishna Gowda T. N., Chief Orthopaedic Surgeon and Head, Institutes of Orthopaedics, Apollo BGS Hospitals, Mysuru performed the surgery at the hospital on the patient, Srikantaiah N., who was rushed to the emergency with complaints of pain in the left hip region after he had a fall at home. The patient expressed his inability to bear weight on his left lower limb. Earlier to this incident, he was active and independently performed his daily chores. On examination of his condition, it was found that there was a fracture on the left proximal femur (fractured neck of femur), the doctors told a press conference here on Monday.
Given his advanced age and the complications of becoming bedridden, the doctor, after discussing with his family, decided to do a modular bipolar hip arthroplasty. This surgery is similar to a total hip replacement, but it involves only half of the hip. The surgery plan was devised given the fact that the elderly patients with hip fractures are prone to develop infections in the chest and urinary tract, deep vein thrombosis, bedsores, compromised cardio-pulmonary reserve and other complications.
