85-year-old woman undergoes revision surgery 35 years after hip replacement

KGMU doctors conduct successful hip revision surgery on 85-year-old woman, taking 35 mins longer due to old plate with bone growth.

King George’s Medical University (KGMU) doctors successfully conducted a hip revision surgery on an 85-year-old woman, they said.

The woman was operated five days ago and was now able to walk on her own, doctors said, adding she would be discharged soon. (Sourced)

The doctors, however, took about 35 minutes more than usual to complete the procedure. The patient had undergone surgery in her left hip 35 years ago during which the plate inserted was fixed with simple screws. The old plate, which had bone growth over it, needed to be removed for replacement.

“These days hexagonal screwdrivers are used to fix or take out a plate inserted in the bone during hip replacement. Earlier it was done with the help of simple screwdrivers as the screws used were also simple. We have only read in books about simple screws used for hip replacement,” said Prof Narendra Singh Kushwaha, a senior faculty at the department of orthopaedic surgery at KGMU, who led the team of doctors.

“We had to get simple screwdrivers from the market to remove the wainwright osteotomy plate provided to her broken hip joint 35 years ago during her first hip replacement surgery. Also removing the bone formation from over the plate also took time. These complications made her run from one hospital to another as doctors refused to operate on her in view of the complications,” said Prof Kushwaha.

The woman was operated five days ago and was now able to walk on her own, the doctor said, adding she would be discharged from the hospital soon.