She was 99 years old when she fell at home and suffered a proximal femur fracture, and was admitted to our orthopedic department. Due to the severe pain in the injured area, getting up in the morning to go shopping for groceries and walking is now the “happiest thing” for the elderly. The old man said, “I am so old, although I used to be able to cook for my children, now I have problems taking care of myself, and I have to be helped to urinate and defecate”. The strong old man often shed tears in secret. Liu Limin, Department of Orthopedics, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University
Proximal femur fracture, such as femoral neck fracture, intertrochanteric fracture is one of the common types of fracture in the elderly, which is called: “the last fracture of adults”. Conservative treatment has disadvantages such as significant pain, long bed rest, and many complications. Long-term bed rest is likely to lead to complications such as crushing pneumonia, lower limb deep vein thrombosis, decubitus ulcers, hip and knee stiffness, etc., which can endanger the patient’s life in serious cases.
The deep expectations of the patient and his family deeply touched the heart of every orthopedic surgeon. The attending physician, Dr. Cao Guanglei, was anxious about the patient’s urgency and thought about the patient’s needs. Since the patient was of advanced age and the operation was risky, Dr. Cao actively discussed and exchanged treatment methods and measures with the consulting physicians of internal medicine and strengthened the perioperative management of the patient. In April 2009, Dr. Shen Huiliang personally performed the surgery on the patient, and the patient is now recovering well and moving around. Mrs. Wan said happily, “I can finally stand up again”.
Over the past few years, our department has treated hundreds of elderly patients, and has accumulated certain experience in the perioperative management of elderly patients before and after surgery, and has formed a set of reasonable clinical pathways for the treatment of elderly intertrochanteric, subtrochanteric, femoral stem and femoral neck fractures.