Hip Fracture?

[Chantal]

How could/would a hip fracture be treated on Pern? This would be an instance of, 'the hip broke, and the (elderly) patient fell."

I need to have an elderly patient laid up, and this seemed like a good ailment to suit the purpose.

A heart attack, though, would also work and would probably be a bit less complicated to treat.

[Andrea]

Nowadays they're treated surgically and a hip replacement is generally done. A new ball/socket joint is created with a kind of spike that holds it into place that's driven down into the femur. I wonder if the person would just be put into traction and a large type of cast would be placed? I doubt Pern would have the techno savvy to do hip replacements.

This makes me think of all the complications this person would run into. The hip wouldn't heal well, so the leg would be all but useless if the person survived the healing process. They'd have a very painful limp, if they could walk at all. they'd need a walker at the most, a cane at the very least. I'm not sure if a wheelchair would be feasible if they were in bed with the hip healing, as it'd probably heal in that position, so they may end up bedridden.

Some people with hip and femur fractures die within a few days of their fracture because of a special type of pulmonary embolus. It's a marrow embolus that happens when large bones fracture and it's often fatal.

Many elderly with hip fractures develop pneumonia within a year of their fracture. if they're frail, the mortality rate is very high.

On Pern, someone with a hip fracture has a lot working against them. So does someone with a heart attack, although depending on the severity of it, they may have more of a chance of surviving than someone with a hip fracture!