According to an adage attributed to the late comedian Lenny Bruce which was made famous by Dr. Evil, the villain from the Austin Powers movies, “there's nothing sadder than an ageing hipster.” Happily for a 110-year-old grandmother from city of Chandigarh in northern India, however, you're never too old to get your hip replaced.
The elderly lady underwent a successful hip replacement surgery, becoming the oldest woman in the country to undergo such an operation.
The procedure was performed by a team of doctors led by Dr. Vijay G Goni at the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) in Chandigarh.
“The operation was performed on 8 January. It will give a new lease of life to the elderly woman and enable her to stand on her feet and walk again,” said Goni, who met with reporters after the surgery.
“The main aim of this surgery is to provide a painless mobile and stable hip joint and to mobilise such patients as soon as possible. The PGI team was successful in achieving this goal. She is the oldest patient to undergo partial hip replacement in India, probably in Asia, as per current information available online,” he added.
The elderly woman had to undergo the procedure after she fell in her home, fracturing her right hip bone.
“Such fractures in elderly patients are a challenge to manage as these patients are very fragile and have various age-related complications. Any delay and failure to treat the problems can be life threatening because of complications due to their being bedridden,” said Goni.
Within 24 hours of the surgery, the patient was made to stand. A team of physiotherapists and occupational therapists are now attending to the patient, who is now “walking comfortably”.
“The whole team is happy that it got a chance to make the elderly woman go back to her routine activities which she used to perform prior to the injury,” Goni added.