Ludhiana, April 12
In an unusual surgical feat, a complex hip joint surgery has been performed on a 97-year-old woman at SPS Apollo Hospital here.

Tara Devi, a resident of Rahon Road here, had broken her upper femur bone near the hip joint when she slipped in the bathroom. She was brought to the hospital where the treatment options were discussed with her family members.

If left as such, she would have been bedridden for the rest of her life which could have further led to many complications like bedsores, and even heart or chest conditions. After thorough evaluation and assessment, the doctors decided to fix the fracture with screws and plate.

Dr Harpreet S. Gill, consultant orthopedic surgeon, assisted by Dr Neeraj Bansal and Dr Harmandeep Singh, performed the surgery. The fractured bone was fixed with the help of 'dynamic condylar screw plate', anaesthesia was given in an advanced form by the team of Dr Gaurav Kuthiala and Dr Dilip and sophisticated monitoring was done during the  operation.

The surgery went off smoothly, recovery was uneventful and the patient was discharged from the hospital after five days. At present, after one and a half months of surgery, the woman is mobile and the fracture is uniting.

Dr Gill remarked that old age presented a unique challenge for both the anaesthetist and orthopedic surgeon. At this age, the quality of bones is poor and fracture fixation a challenge. Similarly, giving anaesthesia to a patient of this age, that too when he or she was suffering from diabetes, is another big challenge.

According to Dr Gill, nearly 95 per cent of hip fractures resulted from falls. Thus, minimising fall risk was a practical approach to reducing these serious injuries. Important elements included education and skill building to increase knowledge about fall risk factors, exercise to improve strength and balance, and home modifications to reduce fall  hazards.

Ludhiana, April 12
A team of 15 anaesthetists from various medical institutes of India under the leadership of Dr Tej. K. Kaul, professor and head, department of anesthesia at Dayanand Medical College and Hospital (DMCH) here, visited Lahore from April 6 to 8 on the invitation of Dr Shahid Khwaja, professor and head of the anaesthesia department at Allama Iqbal Medical College, who also heads the Pakistan Society of Anaesthesiology in Lahore.

Dr Kaul, along with Dr M.K. Arora, Dr A.P. Bhalla and Dr Rani Sunder, all from the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, delivered guest lectures at the conference of the Pakistan Society of Anesthesiology.

Dr Kaul discussed at length the topic of 'PG Teaching in India' and also participated in a symposium along with his Iranian, British and Pakistani counterparts. The ways to improve PG teaching were deliberated upon and desired protocol suggested.

The conference was attended by delegates from various parts of the world, including Iran, the UK, USA and Canada besides India and Pakistan.

According to Dr Kaul, the delegates exchanged views on various aspects of anaesthesiology and critical intensive care. The participants stressed the need to allow free exchange of scientific knowledge between India and Pakistan by liberalising the visa regulations amongst doctors of the two countries. In a bid to facilitate more frequent exchange, the anesthesiologists of Punjab on both sides of the border resolved to meet once a year.

For Pakistani Punjab, the responsibility was entrusted to Dr Arshad Taqi of Hameed Latif Hospital, Lahore, while for Indian Punjab, the job was handed over to Dr Kaul. It was also decided that the next conference will be held at Lahore in 2008 whereas Ludhiana will host the meet in 2009.

During their stay in Pakistan, the delegates from India visited some of the leading hospitals in that country. In addition, they also visited the holy sikh shrines. The delegates crossed back to India yesterday, with fond memories.

Ludhiana, April 12
With a view to extending health awareness to the rural areas, the Directorate of Extension Education, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, in association with the Indian Diabetic Association and Cooperative Societies has celebrated World Health Day in Sherpur Kalan village.

PAU's food scientist Dr Kiran Grover said 90 per cent of rural children were anaemic because of unhygienic food they ate. Creating awareness about food hygiene was the only way to get rid of this problem.

“Nutritious and hygienic food, which is basic for good health doesn’t cost much. One just has to be a little careful,” she added. 

Ludhiana, April 12
As many as 130 patients were examined and given treatment at the 24th free diabetes and cardiac check-up camp organised by the local branch of the National Integrated Medical Association (NIMA) in association with SPS Apollo Hospital at Shivaji Nagar, here, on Wednesday.

Giving this information, NIMA secretary Surendra Gupta said besides distributing medicines free of cost to the poor and needy patients, ECG of 70 patients and blood sugar tests of another 90 were conducted at the camp.

Dr K.C. Mukharji, cardiac surgeon, and Dr Ramanbir Singh, endocrinologist from Apollo Hospital, Dr Subodh Virdi, Dr Surendra Gupta, Dr Rajesh Thaper, Dr K.K. Kharbanda, Dr Inder Sharma, Dr Ashok Arora and Dr Naresh Sablok conducted the medical examination of the patients and rendered follow-up advice.

Dr Mukharji and Dr Ramanbir Singh advised the patients to go for regular medical check-ups and follow healthy lifestyle patterns to avoid these diseases. They said detection of diseases at an early stage could change the prognosis of some of the life-threatening diseases. 

Khamano, April 12
Eighth blood donation camp was organised by the Bharat Vikas Parishad branch of Khamano at Gurdwara Sahib, Khamano Melewali, today.

This camp was inaugurated by Baba Sarabjit Singh Bhalla Farour, whereas DSP, Khamano, Balwant Singh was the chief guest. According to parishad leaders Dr Jagdeep Rana and Deepak Verma, a total of 121 units of blood were collected during the camp.

A social activist, Ashok Kumar, contributed blood for the 38th time. Staff members of Shivalik Public School and drivers of the Taxi Union, Khamano, also donated blood. A team of doctors from the PGI, Chandigarh, collected the blood. — OC