A 78-year-old woman from Palakkad successfully underwent simultaneous surgeries at K.G. Hospital recently.

According to Dr. A. Sakthivel, Chief Orthopaedic Surgeon of the hospital, doctors through imaging modality found that the patient had suffered fracture in her hip and in the thigh bone. Further evaluation revealed that she was suffering from rheumatoid heart disease due to mitral valve dysfunction.

A medical team comprising orthopaedicians and physicians examined her condition and decided to perform the surgeries – both for the hip and thigh bone fractures – simultaneously.

On the third day of her admission in the hospital she started walking and on the fifth day she was discharged. The patient is doing well now, he said.

Hospital Chairman Dr. G Bakthavathsalam said bones become brittle for people above 50. “During post-menopause stage, women should undergo Bone Mineral Density (BMD) and Mammography tests to avert any health complications.

Osteoporosis sets in when the bone density falls severely. It will create a situation in which even a trivial fall will trigger major fractures, both of which are avoidable,” Dr. G Bakthavathsalam said.

Dr. A Sakthivel, quoting statistics, said 90 per cent of the people in India suffer from Vitamin D deficiency.