Hello, It looks that most probably your mother had fracture near knee joint. Your local ortho doctor put traction and applied plaster. He had decided for this conservative mode of treatment due to her age and low weight. This was the need of that time as she was not fit for surgery or other mode of treatment. Probably her fracture may be mildly misaligned. This may be the one of the cause of her pain or there may be associated weakness in her bones and muscles. In my routine OPD, I used to have an X-ray of affected part to rule out disturbance in geometry of joint. In such case she may use custom made braces. You may take help of a orthotic expert for this. Your orthopedic doctor may prescribe this after detail examination. For muscle weakness, a physiotherapist can help her with exercises like quadriceps strengthening, range of movement exercises for knee and ankle, etc. Hope I have answered your question. Let me know if I can assist you further. Regards, Dr. Mukesh Tiwari, Orthopedic Surgeon