103-year-old man gets new hip after Noida doctors perform ‘high risk’ replacement surgery

A team of orthopaedic and joint replacement surgeons had in February successfully performed a right hip replacement surgery on a 103-year-old man, who had fractured his hip bone last December.

The surgery, classified as ‘high risk’, was performed on Mohammad Bandhu Baksh Ansari, of Giridih in Jharkhand, by Dr Sanjay Gupta, associate director of the orthopaedics department of Jaypee Hospital in Noida.

Ansari, a father of six daughters and five sons, is recuperating at a grandson’s house in a colony adjoining Sector 37 in Noida.

He said,“While trying to draw water from a bucket for daily ablutions and for my evening namaaz on December 2 last year, I fell and could not get up. My family took me to a doctor in Dhanbad and he told me to live with it. However, another doctor in Jhumri Telaiya gave me hope. While expressing his inability to operate upon me, he advised me to go to a better facility.”

His 32-year-old grandson Ghulam Gaus, a pharmacist at a Noida based private hospital, consulted his uncle, Dr Wahid Majeed, a professor with the Urdu department of Jamia Millia Islamia. “As Jaypee Hospital is empanelled with Jamia for the treatment of its employees and their dependents, we went to the hospital and consulted Dr Sanjay Gupta,” said Gaus, who is taking care of his grandfather.

Gaus is one of Ansari’s 84 grandchildren and great grandchildren in the clan.

Dr Gupta said the surgery was executed using minimally invasive methods to minimise the risk of bleeding and other wound-related complications during surgery.

The team needed a high degree of precision, coordinated teamwork and dexterity to complete this complex surgery within the time frame for a successful outcome, he added. Ansari’s hip replacement surgery was performed on February 24.

“Since no proper treatment was provided to the patient, his condition had deteriorated over a period of time. His movement was restricted, making him completely bedridden and dependent on other family members. Even the slightest movement would make him scream and toss in the bed,” Dr Gupta said.

Due to delayed treatment, there were added complications of dehydration, urine infection, chest infection and a massive bed sore. Further, the bones had resorbed and soft tissues were scarred and stuck to the bone.

“We had to be meticulous in handling soft tissues while maintaining homeostasis and ensuring the duration of anaesthesia/surgery is not prolonged to avoid chances of a complication,” Dr Gupta said.

Dr Gupta’s teammate, Dr Mohammad Usman Khan, an associate consultant with the orthopaedics department of Jaypee Hospital, said, “Mr Bandhu Baksh’s case was complex and challenging. His age, delayed and neglected injury and other criticality associated with his heart and other organs increased the risk. Our ICU team and critical care unit were ready in case of an untoward event during the surgery.”

“After the successful surgery, he was kept in ICU for a couple of days and then moved to the ward, where the nursing and the physiotherapy team were able to help him walk in a few days,” Dr Khan said.

Ansari, who is up and about, said,“I can sit and stand up on my own without any pain. I am also walking with the help of a walker.”

When asked about his age proof, he held out a photocopy of his Aadhaar card, which states that he was born in 1915. He has kept the document handy for his air journey to Ranchi on May 8.