Pune: As Pune's road conditions deteriorate, residents are paying the price — not just in vehicle damage, but with serious injuries. Orthopedic surgeons are now reporting a serious spike in cases of severe shoulder dislocations and fractures, along with a rise in neck and lower-back pain, particularly among two-wheeler riders who've fallen off their vehicles due to poor road surfaces. These doctors, with practices in core city areas and the outskirts, said those with fall injuries have gone on to need lengthy rehabilitation and, in severe cases, surgical interventions.
"Over the past two-three months, I have treated at least eight patients who had fallen off their bikes due to potholes that were either submerged in water or dry and dangerously deep," said Dr Anand Jadhav, a senior orthopaedic consultant and shoulder specialist at Jupiter Hospital in Baner. Dr Jadhav said shoulder dislocations this year, due to accidents caused by potholes, have gone up at least 20% compared to the same period last year. "The most common injury we've seen is anterior shoulder dislocation, where the ball of the shoulder joint moves out in the front.
This occurs during falls, usually when riders try to break their fall with their hands. Posterior dislocations, while rarer, can also happen in more severe accidents," Dr Jadhav said. Pune's suburbs have fared no better.
Dr Dhammapal Bhamare, an orthopedic surgeon at Sainath Hospital in Moshi, said waterlogged roads in the fringe areas compound th.
