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Hip Replacement Surgery

What is it?

Total joint replacement refers to the surgery to replace the ends of both bones in a damaged joint to create new joint surfaces. Total hip replacement surgery uses metal, ceramic, or plastic parts to replace the ball at the upper end of the thigh bone (femur) and resurface the hip socket in the pelvic bone and is done under general anesthesia followed by minimally invasive surgery.
Cemented joints are attached to the existing bone with cement, which acts as a glue and attaches the artificial joint to the bone.
Uncemented joints are attached using a porous coating that is designed to allow the bone to adhere to the artificial joint.
Prophylactic antibiotics before and after the surgery to reduce the risk of infection.

Why It Is Done

• Doctors recommend joint replacement surgery when hip pain and loss of function become severe and when medicines and other treatments no longer relieve pain.
• Total hip replacement may not be recommended for people who have:

1. Poor general health and may not tolerate anesthetic and surgery well.
2. an active infection or are at high risk for infection.
3. osteoporosis
4. Are involved in heavy manual labor or physically demanding sports.
5. Are severely overweight

Treatment:

• In total hip replacement surgery the hip joint bone and the disease cartilage are replaced with artificials.
• The hip joint is a ball and socket (cup shaped) type joint. The socket is considered to be a part of the pelvis (acetabulum), while the ball is the head of the femur (thigh bone).
• The diseased ball and socket joint is removed surgically.
• This is then replaced with a ceramic or metal ball with an ceramic or plastic cup socket. The stem of this artificial ball is inserted into the central core in the femur (thigh bone), this is then fixed with methylmethacrylate – a bony cement.
• A cement-less prosthesis is also available, this has microscopic pores in which the ingrowth of bones from the femur takes place into the prosthesis. This prosthesis has longer durability and is the best option for young patients.

Living with a hip replacement

1. Follow up at least once every year to monitor your hip replacement.
2. Start driving an automatic shift car in 6 to 8 weeks, as long as the seat is not too low and you are no longer taking pain medicine.
3. Controlling your weight will help your new hip joint last longer.
4. Stay active to help keep your strength, flexibility, and endurance.
5. Activities include walking, swimming, dancing, golf (don’t wear shoes with spikes, and do use a golf cart), and bicycling on a stationary bike or on level surfaces.
6. More strenuous activities, such as jogging or tennis, are not advised after a hip replacement.