Elderly people are obviously more susceptible to broken bones, why is it specifically a broken hip bone that is such a death knell?
In: Biology
Orthopedics isn’t quite my specialty but I might be able to weigh in with my familiarity of the older population. I’m typing this up from my phone so I hope formatting is okay. Some of the other posters covered some very good points!
Semi fun-fact. Most hip fractures occur before the fall! Or rather they fell because their hip fractured and not the other way. Bones like muscle respond to exercise and stress by growing and becoming stronger. It also means that a very sedentary lifestyle means bone and muscle more or less wilts away. A sedentary lifestyle is bad for bone before, even worse after when you can’t move.
Another fun-fact. A good part of your lower extremity circulation is dependent on movement. That’s why its recommended to stretch your legs dueing periods of long sitting. Being unable to move puts you at elevated risk for things like blood clots.
Lastly and an unfortunate part of aging is the comorbidities (simultaneous diseases occurring at the same time) that arise. So maybe she has diabetes (long-time diabetes does a number to the body), high cholesterol, and poor circulation and to throw on the fracture just makes things incredibly difficult. Then different things start to come into question. Can this person even tolerate the surgery and the ADDED trauma he/she will have to go through for the procedure? Can this person tolerate the stages of recovery? What’s the quality of life look like for this patient after?
I thought-vomited so if anything is confusing or if there’s anything I’d be able to better explain, let me know!
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