A 69-YEAR-OLD woman died of deep vein thrombosis five weeks after an operation to replace her left hip, an inquest was told.

Elsie Hand, of The Coppice, Clayton-le-Moors, underwent surgery for a total hip replacement at Gisburn Park Hospital on October 11 last year.

On November 18 she collapsed at home and died soon afterwards.

Her husband Arthur said: "It was all so sudden."

The consultant orthopaedic surgeon who carried out the operation said Mrs Hand had made an uneventful recovery from the surgery.

She was discharged from hospital on October 21 and given advice to exercise regularly.

Pathologist Dr William Lawler said: "Technically that operation had been entirely successful."

But he said Mrs Hand had suffered from deep vein thrombosis which often results from immobility.

Coroner Michael Singleton recorded a verdict of a "recognised complication of otherwise successful surgery".