104-yr-old woman undergoes rare hip replacement surgery

A city hospital on Sunday claimed to have performed a rare surgery on a 104-year-old patient Mateshwari Devi, who is older than Edith Dewhurt from Greater Manchester, who is recorded in the Guinness Book of World Records as the oldest person in the world to have undergone partial hip replacement surgery.

Mateshwari Devi, from Greater Noida, underwent the complicated surgery after she had suffered bed complication which led to the fracture and traumatic arthritis of hip joints subsequently. The complication was such that the pain spread to her entire backside, making her unable to even move out of bed. Following tests, it was found that the ball joint in the left side of her hip had fractured and had rotated and pushed into the socket causing arthritis, a doctor involved in the surgery said. 

Doctors said that the joint replacement in senior citizens is highly risky as it can lead to organ failure. The doctors took the gamble to perform the surgery as she showed energy to undergo the same.After getting the consent of the patient’s son, doctors constituted a team and performed the replacement surgery. Within five days, the patient started making movements with the help of a walker. 

Sanjay Gupta, joint replacement surgeon at Jaypee Hospital said, “It was a bit challenging for us to take the decision for the surgery due to the age of the patient and especially to convince her relatives.” “Prior to the surgery, we conducted the body examination and her condition was reviewed by cardiologists, chest physicians and nephrologists,” he added. 

Gupta told reporters that the surgery was performed during the last week of June at a total cost of Rs2.22 lakh. Gupta said the team had to take extra precautions while performing surgery as Mateshwari Devi had a medical history of bronchial asthma and hypothyroid which could lead to organ failure during surgery. 

Mateshwari’s 65-year-old son Narendra Singh, a retired superintendent engineer in UPCCl, said: “My mother is now completely fit. She was going through unbearable pain for the last few years. I took the risk because I wanted to see her back in a good condition. It was right decision. I am thankful to the doctors.”