The doctor said his patient's good bone quality even at that age. (Representational)
An orthopaedic surgeon at a Delhi hospital has "applied" for Guinness World Record after performing on a hip replacement surgery on a 105-year-old man. The doctor claims that his patient was "oldest person globally" to have undergone this clinical procedure.
Dr Kaushal Kant Mishra, who heads the orthopaedic department at Primus Hospital in central Delhi, performed the surgery recently and said that he has "already applied" for the world record.
"The patient was brought to our hospital on January 19 after having suffered a fall in bathroom at his home, which left him incapacitated. The surgery was performed that day and on January 22 he was discharged in a walking condition," Dr Mishra said.
The patient, Gurbachan Singh Sandhu, used to walk with a stick, the doctor said. "He was born in undivided Punjab on the Indian side, and retired in 1971 from security office of the armed forces. On March 28, he will turn 106. I have checked for documented surgeries world over for hip replacement, and I found no one as old than Sandhu to have undergone this operation," he said.
As per the existing global record, the oldest person to have had a total hip replacement was a British man named John Randall, born in 1909, who had a "revision left total hip replacement at the age of 102 years", the doctor claimed.
"There are two kinds of hip replacement surgeries, cemented and uncemented. In cemented ones, there are chances of side-effects which could also be life-threatening. Sandhu underwent uncemented hip replacement procedure successfully," he said.
The doctor said that despite the old age, his patient has good bone quality which was another factor for choosing uncemented surgical procedure. Mr Sandhu did not smoke or drink, and regularly went for walks, the doctor added.
"Most people of his age become weak and vulnerable, but he is full of life and energy. He wanted to walk and not lay on bed with a broken hip and so readily agreed for the surgery," Dr Mishra said.
"Incidentally, by the time I was born, Sandhu had already retired. So, this surgery feels very different that way too," he said.