Doctors at Sahyadri Multispecialty Hospital in Pune on Monday performed a complicated jaw surgery on an elderly woman, who had dislocated her jaw while yawning a month ago. The surgery led by Dr Prasad Dadhe, Oral and Maxillofacial surgeon, provided the 83-year-old woman a much-needed relief from the pain and tough time she had been going through. Dr Dadhe said the elderly women got her jaw locked following a dislocation after yawning. As she couldn’t close her mouth, she was unable to eat or drink properly.
She was starving, dehydrating and soon turned cachexic, the doctor said. She already had spasm of all muscles of mastication. “This forced me to take her under general anesthesia.
It was a risk considering her age and cachexia. However, there was no option,” said Dr Dadhe. “It was really difficult to put her jaw condyles back into fossa, but finally, I could set it right,” said Dr Dadhe. He added that jaw dislocation is not very uncommon in elderly or even younger population. This condition makes the victim unable to close his/her mouth till the condyles are placed back to normal by a particular maneuver.