Death following a hip fracture is often due to infection?

Ah, the joys of aging. Your skin gets wrinkly, your bones get creaky, and you start making weird noises when you stand up. But did you know that an innocent hip fracture could lead to death? It’s not because your grandpa forgot how to use his walker (although that is possible). No, it’s usually due to infection. Let’s delve into why and how this happens.

What Happens When You Break Your Hip

Hip fractures are common among the elderly population who might be weaker due to old age or underlying medical conditions like osteoporosis (yes, I’m going there with the tough words). The pain can be excruciating – similar to jumping on Legos with bare feet (try it someday if you haven’t already).

The good news is if caught early enough (like within 48 hours), there are surgical procedures that can repair a broken hip bone. Unfortunately, sometimes surgery isn’t an option due to various reasons.

However upon admission at healthcare facilities worldwide for care after hip fracture diagnosis majority get proper care and treatment until they heal well enough after which they may leave beyond our knowledge.

Why Do People Die from Infections After Breaking Their Hips?

Once your body experiences trauma such as a fall leading up to breaking your hips in older adults whose immunity defenses have become weaker , its immune system becomes weaker as well (because biology was never kind) . While healing from fractures medications could interfere with their immunity defense thus increasing chances of catching infections despite routine cleanliness while under treatment.

A person who has been bedridden for long periods before dealing with another health issue -most prevalent among seniors- especially when bedridden increases vulnerability towards acquiring new infections coupled-up rendering victims overall recovery rate dampened by fighting off secondary/other infections.

Infections coming along breakages arise most times from the urinary tract or respiratory system. You see, once immobile, infections could set in due to difficulty with personal hygiene (think sponge baths), decreased bladder tone leading up to a higher risk of urinary retention and ultimately having catheter thus common ailments such as UTI arise.

In simpler terms, when your grandpa breaks his hip (again) and is stuck laying down in a hospital bed with limited movement (try chaining an active freestyle swimmer paws down), he’s susceptible to all sorts of germs making their way into his body.

BONUS: The Four Horsemen of Infection

Alrighty then …(channeling Ace Ventura here).

Here are four types of infection that can spring along after post-hip surgery complications:

1. Pneumonia
2. Sepsis
3. Urinary Tract Infections
4. Wound infections

Tableating this for you:

Type of Infection	Symptoms
Pneumonia	Cough, fever/chills, chest pain/tightness
Sepsis	Fever above 101ºF or below 96ºF; Heart rate >90 beats per minute ; Respiratory rate above 20 breaths per minute ;
Probable or confirmed infection
Urinary Tract Infections	Frequent urination/painful urination/blood in urine/abdominal pain
Wound infections	Swelling/redness around wound site/ pus & fluid discharge

Can These Types Of Post-Surgery Complications Be Prevented?

Yes and no! While certain things – like old age – cannot be helped (hence there being so many “anti-aging” creams available today) others are directly within our control through proactive measures.

For example, if your grandpa has been struggling at taking good care for themselves properly with regards to maintaining hygiene and post-fracture care diligently, providing assistance with this can greatly decrease their chances of getting infections.

Additionally, healthcare facilities should place various prevention measures in place such as:

• Maintaining a hygienic environment;
• Regularly cleaning equipment and hospital spaces (especially bed linen);
• Administering antibiotics to deter or keep bacteria growth low(usually given after the operation);
  etcetera

However even these procedures are still not 100% effective because factors like age itself could play effects more potent than procedural measures.

What Can Be Done About These Types Of Post-Surgery Complications?

Lucky for all of us (except your grandpa), there is an entire field dedicated to figuring out how to help when things go wrong. It’s called infectious disease management. And nope, they’re not just here for flu season.

This team consists of medical professionals trained specifically for diagnosis, treatment, and most importantly – prevention. They may recommend anti-inflammatory drugs that reduce inflammation during recovery stages so as avoid other complications arising from inflammations ranging from wound infection caused by non-healing wounds.

There are medicines including intravenous forms assigned with instructions directed on who take them at what time.(probably your grandpa would need extra reminders)

Take home message? Hip fractures aren’t always just about responding promptly once they happen but also minimizing risks ahead like personal hygiene .

So next time you visit your grandpa (if he remembers you) be sure to sneak in some hand sanitizer while making fun of him rocking his new hip..just don’t do it too long because both sore muscles sucking up oxygenated supply & sinusitis leads up tongue slip(s).

PS: We hope none of our readers ever have any life-threatening complications following hip surgeries/broken bones/arthritis/painful joints etc.Just remember…if anything goes wrong,you know whom Hulk smash.