For over three hours, doctors operated on an elderly man with a severe leg injury so he could walk again. The patient is 75 years old and was admitted to the orthopedic department of the Popov hospital branch in Targovishte with several fractures of the femur. The case was complicated because the operated on had an artificial hip joint inserted about 3 years ago. Due to a pus infection at the site, his prosthesis became loose and his movements became unstable. This resulted in a fall and fractures in several places in the thigh area.
“This is the first time we are doing such a complex operation in several stages, because the damage was really severe. It is a periprosthetic fracture. These are cases where the femur is anchored to a prosthesis in the pelvis or knee area and the fracture is above or below the prosthesis. First, we removed the old prosthesis, cleaned the area of the remaining glue and assembled the broken parts. Then we placed a reinforcing femoral stem, which is 22 centimeters long, so that the fracture remains in the middle and the bone can heal. At the end, we assembled the new hip prosthesis,” explained orthopedist Dr. Dimitar Kochev, who led the operation. He was assisted by two other doctors – Dr. Tihomir Papurov and Dr. Krasimir Ivanov.
The prognosis of the doctors is for a full recovery of the patient. He will remain under continuous observation for the next 60 days. In a period of 6 to 8 months, complete healing of the bone is expected.
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Tags: saved leg man Targovishte defective prosthesis severe fracture
