In good news, 105-year-old man has got a new phase of life after undergoing a ‘hip replacement surgery’ at a Delhi hospital. Thanks to the doctor who pulled off this operation. The doctor who operated on the patient claimed that he was the “oldest person worldwide” to have undergone this operation.
It was Orthopaedic surgeon Kaushal Kant Mishra, who performed the surgery quite recently. He said he has “already applied” for a Guinness World Record.
“The patient was brought to our hospital on January 19 after having suffered a fall in the bathroom at his home, which left him incapacitated. The surgery was performed that day and on January 22 he was discharged in a walking condition,” Mishra added.
The doctor, who leads the orthopaedic department at Primus Hospital in central Delhi, said the patient, Gurbachan Singh Sandhu, used to walk with a stick and his physical fitness helped him in the surgery.
“He was born in undivided Punjab on the Indian side and retired in 1971 from security office of the armed forces. On March 28, he will turn 106. I have checked for documented surgeries world over for hip replacement, and I found no one as old than Sandhu to have undergone this operation,” he said.
As per the existing global record, the oldest person to have had a total hip replacement was a British, John Randall, born in 1909, who had a “revision left total hip replacement at the age of 102 years”, the doctor further claimed.
“There are two kinds of hip replacement surgeries, cemented and uncemented. In cemented ones, there are chances of side-effects which could also be life-threatening. Sandhu underwent uncemented hip replacement procedure successfully,” he said.
The doctor said that the patient’s good bone quality even at that age was another point for choosing the uncemented surgical procedure. The doctor went on to say that Sandhu did not smoke or drink, and frequently went for walks.
“Most people of his age become weak and vulnerable, but he is full of life and energy. He wanted to walk and not lay on the bed with a broken hip and so readily agreed for the surgery,” Mishra said.
“Incidentally, by the time I was born, Sandhu had already retired. So, this surgery feels very different that way too,” he added.