JointVibes: by Dr Markandaiya Acharya

A 78-year-old grandmother slips on a wet floor at home. She cannot stand. The family is told surgery is risky at her age, so they decide to "keep her in bed and let it join". Six weeks later she has bedsores, a chest infection and a leg that has not healed. I see versions of this story far too often. In most older patients, the safer path is the one that sounds riskier: surgery, done early. Types of hip fracture Neck of femur fracture: just below the ball of the hip joint. Often treated by replacing the ball (hemiarthroplasty or hip replacement). Intertrochanteric fracture: a little lower, through the bony prominence. Usually fixed with a nail or plate. Subtrochanteric fracture: just below that, in the upper shaft. Seen both in older people with weak bones and in younger people after road accidents. Acetabulum fracture: a break in the socket of the hip joint, part of the pelvis. Common after high-energy injuries, but also seen after simple falls in older p...

Every week someone in my OPD holds up a card and asks, "Will this work for the operation?" Since 2024 the name on the card has changed, the rules have changed, and a lot of people are confused. Here is what you need to know as a bone and joint patient in Odisha. BSKY, GJAY, Ayushman: what changed Odisha's earlier scheme, Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana (BSKY) , was renamed Gopabandhu Jan Arogya Yojana (GJAY) . The state then integrated GJAY with the central Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY scheme. It is now commonly called PMJAY–GJAY , and was rolled out across Odisha from 1 April 2025. Beneficiaries get a single combined health card. During the changeover after the 2024 change in government, some private hospitals refused cashless treatment to BSKY card holders. The state government clarified that the scheme remained active and asked empanelled hospitals to keep treating card holders. If you are turned away, ask to see the hospital's empanelment status. What the c...