Broken hip surgery and dementia in 89 year old

[OneWaySystemBlues]

My 89 year old uncle fell this morning in his care home and broke his hip. He normally walks with a 3-wheeled walker and he already has vascular dementia. He is going to have surgery this afternoon for the broken hip. My understanding is that broken hips are not good in someone his age and that the surgery could well make his dementia worse. I don't live near, so can't see him easily. My questions are, how likely is he to recover from this? How long is he likely to be in hospital and what sort of care will he need when he gets out? He's in a care home, but it's not a nursing home - should we be thinking about somewhere else for him?

My mum lives near, but she is 83 and looks after my dad who also has dementia and she's pretty stressed. What questions should I be asking and is there anything I can do to help? I can't get down there easily this week .

sorry to hear about your uncle.
It's very hard to predict the outcome of a broken hip. In some elderly people they can be fatal due to complications like chest infections, pneumonia or blood clots if the person is bedridden after the operation or loses mobility.. For that reason, they are encouraged to be up and about very soon and have physio.

It all depends on the fracture. Most old people have them pinned but they may replace some of the joint with a metal joint- it all depends.

I know an old lady near me ( mid 80s) who had 2 broken hips and she is still active and walks normally. I know another one who had 1 broken hip and is now almost housebound as the break didn't heal that well and she has reduced mobility.

One thing is certain- he will be encouraged to get out of bed soon after the operation and walk. The hospital will arrange physio for him. Don't know about surgery worsening dementia, but the GA will leave him groggy and maybe confused for some time.

I think you just have to wait and see how he is.

Thanks for replying. He had his surgery yesterday morning and it went well. He was sitting up and ordering his dinner by the evening; but today he apparently has a UTI and is confused and sleepy. He was aggressive with the nurses when they took him for X-ray this morning and was pretty out of it when my mum visited him this afternoon. He now has antibiotics and IV fluids going in, so hopefully he'll have some improvement over night. I've just googled and the risk of UTI after surgery for hip fracture is up to 61%, so obviously it's quite common. A broken hip does seem a bugger to recover from though.

My father in law had paralysis stroke a year back recovered a bit then dementia set in and he had a fall. Now with a broken hip since 3 months completely in bed with reduced mobility he is 87yrs old. Should we do surgery