Fracture Treatment in Pune | Deccan Hardikar Hospital

What is fracture treatment and who provides it in Pune?

Fracture treatment is the comprehensive medical and surgical care given to a person with a broken bone — from emergency stabilisation and diagnostic imaging through to definitive fixation and guided rehabilitation. Deccan Hardikar Hospital in Pune offers full-spectrum orthopaedic trauma care at its Shivajinagar centre, managing everything from stable closed fractures to complex open and periarticular injuries, with 24/7 emergency orthopaedic services available.

The goals of fracture treatment are to relieve pain, restore bone alignment and limb length, prevent complications such as infection or non-union, and return the patient to their pre-injury level of function. Treatment is individualised based on fracture type, patient age, bone quality, medical history, and functional demands. Learn more about the broader orthopaedics services at Deccan Hardikar Hospital.

Who needs fracture treatment? What are the signs and symptoms?

Any person who sustains a broken bone — whether from a high-energy road accident, a sports injury, a workplace fall, or a low-energy stumble in an older adult with osteoporosis — requires prompt fracture assessment and treatment. Seek immediate orthopaedic evaluation if you experience any of the following:

• Sudden, intense pain at the injury site that worsens with movement or pressure.
• Visible deformity, angulation, or shortening of a limb.
• Significant swelling, bruising, and localised tenderness over the bone.
• Inability or severe difficulty bearing weight on a lower limb, or using an upper limb.
• A sensation or audible sound of a crack at the time of injury.
• Numbness, tingling, or loss of sensation distal to the injury — indicating possible nerve involvement.
• Absent or diminished pulse below the injury site — a vascular emergency requiring immediate intervention.
• An open wound with visible bone or heavy bleeding (compound/open fracture) — requires urgent surgical attention to prevent infection.
• In children: pain, swelling, or refusal to use a limb after a fall, particularly around growth plates.
• In elderly patients: pain and inability to weight-bear after a low-energy fall, raising concern for hip or wrist fracture related to osteoporosis.

How is a fracture diagnosed and evaluated at Deccan Hardikar Hospital?

Accurate diagnosis is the foundation of successful fracture treatment. At Deccan Hardikar Hospital's orthopaedic trauma centre in Pune, evaluation follows a systematic, evidence-based pathway:

1. Focused clinical history: Mechanism of injury, symptom onset, pre-existing conditions (osteoporosis, diabetes, smoking), current medications, and allergies are documented.
2. Physical examination: Assessment of deformity, swelling, open wounds, skin tenting, neurovascular status (pulse, sensation, motor function), and joint stability. Urgency is triaged at this stage.
3. Standard X-rays: Two-view radiographs (anteroposterior and lateral) are the first-line imaging modality for most extremity fractures.
4. CT scan with 3D reconstruction: Used for complex periarticular fractures, pelvis and acetabular fractures, and suspected occult injuries to detail fracture lines, comminution, and bone loss.
5. MRI (selective): Indicated for soft-tissue injury, bone bruises, occult scaphoid or tibial plateau fractures, and paediatric growth plate assessment.
6. Laboratory investigations: Pre-operative blood count, blood sugar, renal function, coagulation profile, and cross-match where surgery is anticipated. Cultures and tetanus status are checked for open fractures.
7. Integrated treatment planning: Imaging, laboratory data, and clinical findings are combined to determine whether conservative or surgical management is most appropriate for the individual patient.

How is fracture treatment performed at Deccan Hardikar Hospital?

Treatment follows a structured pathway from emergency presentation through to definitive fixation and rehabilitation. The steps below reflect the standard care sequence at Deccan Hardikar Hospital, Shivajinagar, Pune:

1. Emergency stabilisation: On arrival, the injured limb is splinted, pain is controlled with appropriate analgesia, and neurovascular status is reassessed. Open fractures receive immediate wound cover, IV antibiotics, and tetanus prophylaxis.
2. Diagnostic imaging and classification: X-rays and, where indicated, CT or MRI are obtained to classify the fracture and plan treatment.
3. Pre-operative optimisation (surgical cases): Medical fitness is confirmed, blood products are cross-matched if required, and the surgical plan — implant selection, approach, anaesthesia type — is finalised with the patient.
4. Fracture reduction: Bone fragments are realigned either by closed manipulation (without incision) or open surgical exposure, depending on fracture pattern and stability.
5. Fixation or immobilisation: Stable fractures are immobilised in a cast, splint, or functional brace. Unstable or displaced fractures are fixed surgically using plates and screws (ORIF), intramedullary nails, or external fixators as appropriate.
6. Wound and soft-tissue management: Open fractures undergo thorough debridement; staged procedures or plastic surgical reconstruction are planned when soft-tissue coverage is required.
7. Post-operative care: Multimodal pain management, thromboprophylaxis where indicated, wound monitoring, and early physiotherapy referral are initiated before discharge.
8. Outpatient follow-up: Serial X-rays confirm maintained alignment and progressive bone healing. Physiotherapy milestones are reviewed and advanced in coordination with the operating surgeon.

For complex trauma cases, Deccan Hardikar Hospital coordinates input from vascular surgeons, plastic surgeons, and critical care specialists. Explore our dedicated trauma care services for further detail on emergency management.

What fracture treatment options are available — surgical and non-surgical?

Treatment selection depends on fracture stability, displacement, bone quality, patient age, and functional demands. Deccan Hardikar Hospital offers both conservative and surgical options:

Minimally invasive fracture surgery techniques are applied where appropriate to reduce soft-tissue damage, lower infection risk, and accelerate recovery. Intraoperative fluoroscopy and, when indicated, arthroscopic assistance are used to ensure joint congruity in complex articular fractures. Patients requiring joint reconstruction after fracture may also benefit from our joint replacement surgery programme.

What does recovery look like after fracture treatment?

Rehabilitation is an essential component of fracture care at Deccan Hardikar Hospital, Pune. Physiotherapists create individualised programmes beginning at the earliest safe point after injury or surgery. The typical recovery journey progresses through four phases:

1. Acute phase (0–2 weeks): Pain control, swelling reduction, limb protection education, breathing exercises, and gentle range-of-motion to adjacent unaffected joints.
2. Early recovery (2–6 weeks): Progressive strengthening of surrounding musculature, gait training with assistive devices, and controlled joint mobilisation as permitted by fixation stability.
3. Remodelling and functional training (6–12 weeks): Increased load-bearing, balance and proprioception training, and sport-specific or work-specific retraining as radiographic healing progresses.
4. Return-to-activity phase (3–6+ months): Gradual reintroduction to higher-demand activities, ongoing conditioning, and injury-prevention strategies.

Physiotherapy modalities used include manual therapy, therapeutic exercises, neuromuscular re-education, electrical stimulation for muscle activation, and scar mobilisation techniques after surgery. The operating surgeon and physiotherapy team communicate closely to tailor progressions safely. For elderly patients recovering from hip fractures, an inpatient rehabilitation programme with fall prevention, bone health optimisation, and caregiver education is often recommended to reduce readmission risk.

What are the risks and possible complications of fracture treatment?

Modern fracture treatment carries a high rate of successful bone union, but all interventions carry potential risks. Patients at Deccan Hardikar Hospital are counselled on the following before treatment:

• Infection: Risk is highest in open (compound) fractures. Perioperative antibiotics, meticulous wound debridement, and staged care protocols are used to minimise this.
• Delayed union or non-union: The fracture takes longer than expected to heal, or fails to heal. Risk is increased by smoking, diabetes, poor nutrition, and osteoporosis.
• Malunion: The bone heals in a suboptimal position, potentially affecting limb alignment or joint function.
• Hardware irritation or failure: Plates, screws, or nails may cause local discomfort or, rarely, break before full bone healing.
• Joint stiffness: Prolonged immobilisation or intra-articular injury can reduce range of motion; early physiotherapy helps mitigate this.
• Neurovascular injury: Nerves or blood vessels near the fracture site may be injured at the time of fracture or during surgery.
• Deep vein thrombosis (DVT): Immobility after lower limb fractures increases clot risk; thromboprophylaxis is prescribed where indicated.
• Post-traumatic arthritis: Intra-articular fractures that do not heal with perfect joint congruity may lead to early arthritis in the affected joint.
• Compartment syndrome: Raised pressure within a muscle compartment after fracture or surgery — a surgical emergency requiring urgent fasciotomy.

Patient factors that increase complication risk include smoking, uncontrolled diabetes, osteoporosis, poor nutritional status, and delayed presentation after injury. Deccan Hardikar Hospital's clinical pathways include smoking cessation counselling and bone health optimisation for at-risk patients.

Which orthopaedic surgeons perform fracture treatment at Deccan Hardikar Hospital?

Fracture treatment at Deccan Hardikar Hospital in Pune is delivered by a team of qualified orthopaedic surgeons with specialist credentials across trauma, joint care, and spine surgery:

• Dr. Madan Hardikar — MBBS, MS - Orthopaedics
• Dr. Onkar Lande — MBBS, Orthopaedics
• Dr. Ranjeet Rajure — MBBS, DNB, FISS - Spine
• Dr. Sachin Nagapurkar — MBBS, DMB, FPOS Ortho
• Dr. Saurabh Giri — MBBS, MS - Orthopaedics, Fellowship in Revision Surgery Hip and Knee Arthroplasty
• Dr. Sharad Hardikar — MBBS, MS - Orthopaedics

The team is supported by experienced anaesthesiologists, physiotherapists, and nursing staff trained in trauma care and fracture rehabilitation. For sports-related fractures and ligament injuries, our team also provides sports injury and arthroscopy services.