Broken hip at age 95 - any experience?

[olivertwistwantsmore]

Mil fell last night and broke her hip. Saw her today in hospital. She was in pain, very confused - she has dementia - and had no idea what had happened. I felt so sorry for her.

She’s having an op tomorrow to fix her hip, but does anyone have any stories about people of a similar age who have had a broken hip? Hiw did they recover? Did they regain mobility? The doctor said it is a ‘significant injury’, and I can’t imagine how they do physio for a patient with dementia...

Thanks for the clarification. Much appreciated.

Doubt that's his/her name, Orchard Green.

It is, I googled it.

I only know one, she broke her hip age 97 (has dementia also) and has been unable to weight bear since. She's 99 and still "well" but is hoisted from bed to chair

Sorry, I misspelled it when I was checking.

My grandmother had this scenario but without the dementia. She was pretty immobile prior, and worse after. She has many other medical issues. I think it accelerated her move from sheltered flat to care home. In fairness she’d wanted to go into a home for years.

Confusion needs to be monitored. In her situation it’s easy to develop an infection (uti, chest) which will exacerbate existing confusion associated with dementia. As would dehydration if she’s not drinking much.

Anaesthetist here. As above, the main indication for surgery here is that it’ll be the best way to get her comfortable quickly. I would not hold any great hopes of her getting back to her previous level of mobility or function. It’s an injury that does carry a high mortality risk, but it’s still very rare for patients to die in theatre. Best thing for her is surgery ASAP (ie today). Hope it goes smoothly.

My father has dementia. He is 86. He fell and broke his hip back in the summer. The consultant told me that there was a chance he may not survive admission. They operated with a spinal block instead of a General anaesthetic. He was very confused throughout his hospital stay of two weeks. On discharge he could walk/shuffle very tentatively with a frame. Three months later he fell again and broke his other hip. This time he was in hospital for three weeks. The physio tried to get him moving again but he made very little progress. He hasn't walked since. I was told that because of his dementia rehabilitation was not a viable option.

My granny did the same 6 weeks ago at 89. We did lots of weeping, thinking she would be immobile. No dementia but very elderly a little confused. She was very confused in hospital. 6 weeks on, she is home, with a care package. She can potter about with a frame and can dress/undress herself - she has been amazing. She is also much less confused now she is home. I hope your MIL makes a speed recovery

She's in surgery now, so fingers crossed.

I hope she comes through it well. My mum felt so much better after the surgery even before she started to be mobile- the pain was gone and she said she no longer had what she called a "falling apart" feeling which she hated. So it would have been worth it, even if the outcome hadn't been as good.

I hope her surgery went well

Just back from seeing her. She was asleep. The nurse gave her an agent to reverse the opioids as she should ba waking up... But the op went very well. Spoke to the surgeon, who was fantastic and reassuring.

This happened to my mum when she was 92. She had the operation the next day with a spinal block. All seemed well and the physio got her up the next day for walking practice with a Zimmer. My mum had a high pain threshold and complained that it hurt as much as when she fell. However no xray was taken for four days when they discovered the pin had displaced. Luckily we were in a position to get her moved to a specialist orthopaedic hospital where the wonderful surgeon put her together again. Unfortunately she was not able to weight bear on that leg for three months so got around with a zimmer and only bearing weight on the other leg. Bit of a nightmare but she did it. After that she had some physio and because of the first op she had some shortening in that leg and was fitted with a heel raise.
She died eighteen months ago at the age of nearly 101 and walking really well. Hope its the same for your MIL.

An update: the op went very well but MIL is no better in herself.

She still cannot talk, she can't swallow, she hasn't eaten since Thursday eve. They're talking about tube feeding her, but don't think she will tolerate it - she's very agitated and very shaky. She jumps at every noise and is just shouting and moaning. She's obviously scared and has no iea what's going on. When I saw her today her eyes were open but I don't know how aware she is - she certainly didn't seem to recognise me.

Hi OP any news on MIL? I hope she is recovering well.

Hi, OliverTwist, I hope your mil has improved.

My 87 year old dad fell and broke his hip a couple of months ago, but they wouldn't/couldn't operate. He's been on bedrest since, although he is now technically allowed to weight-bear. Unfortunately, he broke his "good" side, and the leg he would now need to rely on is the one that gave way in the first place.

Fortunately, he had just moved into a care/nursing home before the fall, and the care he has received since leaving hospital (clearly, he would otherwise still be there in a busy ward) has been fabulous and he is as happy and settled as he can be.

Fingers crossed!

Well, mil has just got out of hospital and back to nursing ward in care home. But... she hasn’t eaten since she fell, so 12 days. She’s drinking thickened drinks and eating a purée duet, but she refuses food and won’t eat,

Her dementia is much much worse. She doesn’t recognise anyone. Has no idea where she is or what’s happened. She can’t really talk.

She has only mobilised once since having the op. I have no idea what will happen now. I can’t see her recovering.

DearGod, I was told that operating is the only way to fix a broken hip? How did your dad go to the loo/mobilisexe5c? Did he stay in bed until his hip healed? Why didn’t they operate?

Mobilise, etc?

A lady at my work (I work at a care home) had a hip replacement at 99 years old.

My husband's gran had a broken hip and thigh bone from a fall at 88. She had surgery, plates and pins. The initial surgery went well but very quickly it became apparent the fix wasn't great. Her leg wasn't secured at the correct angle and has resulted in her bad leg being shorter than her good leg. She now has to wear a built up slipper even to walk in the house. She uses a Zimmer at all times. Subsequent scans after the surgery have revealed no bone has grown since the surgery, so it is effectively still broken and is just held together by the plates and pins. She is now 93 and struggles on, the poor soul.

Whiteworld, I think it was just too risky to operate, not just because of his age (because as evidenced by this thread, plenty of even older people have the surgery), but he has some other underlying health issues (heart arrhythmia, osteoporosis, prostate cancer etc) too.

He was on bed-rest for 6 weeks, and the staff at the home used hoists to move him. He can now begin to weight-bear, but is only really able to manage 2 or 3 steps with a zimmer and two people to guide/support. I really don't think we're going to get much further than this, but it would be great if he can at least help himself to manoeuvre from a wheelchair to the car so we can take him out and about.