Overview of Procedure

Total hip replacement surgery is a procedure that can help people with severe hip damage and chronic hip pain.

Hip replacement operations have a high rate of success in terms of restoring pain free living. People with prosthetic hips can walk without a cane, play non-impact sports and function normally.

The Right Candidates

Hip replacement surgery can benefit people with severe osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis or other ailments, who have tried less invasive treatments but found them unsuccessful.

Depending on the patient’s age and the severity of the pain, the doctor may recommend physical therapy and the use of a crutch before recommending a hip replacement.

Risks and Side Effects

Temporary, unwanted side effects do happen after a successful surgical treatment. For example feeling sick as a result of the general anaesthetic.

You will feel sore for several weeks and you may have some temporary pain and swelling in your knee and ankle.

Surgery

During the operation, an incision is made on the outer aspect of the hip, 4-6 inches down the length of the leg. The top end of the thigh bone is removed and a ball on a stem is placed into it. The hip socket is hollowed out to make a shallow cup and an artificial socket is placed into it. The artificial part of the thigh bone can then fit into this socket. The prosthetic is usually made from cobalt chrome and titanium.

Recovery

One common complaint after total hip replacement is leg length discrepancy, where the patient feels that the leg that was operated on is longer than the other. There are two kinds of Leg Length Discrepancy: Apparent, and Actual. After the operation the patient may experience one, or both, or a combination of the two. Apparent Leg Length Discrepancy occurs when, although the legs are actually equally long, the contractor and permanent shrinkage of the muscles on the bad leg, have caused the spine to tilt and compensate towards it, which then, after the operation, create the illusion that the leg that was operated on is longer than the other. In some cases the surgeon determines it necessary to slightly lengthen the leg that is operated on because of anatomic variation or weakness in the muscles. This is Actual Leg Length Discrepancy. There is no guarantee of exactly equal leg length after a total hip replacement, and this is something your doctor should discuss with you beforehand.

Results


Healing: The stitches from the incision can be removed about 2 weeks after the operation. The tissues around the hip will take about 2-3 months to heal, during which time you should be careful not to exert too much stress on it, especially when getting up off the floor or out of low chair.

Metal Detectors: When you pass though metal detectors at airports, they will likely be set off because of the metal properties of the prosthesis. Many hospitals issue cards or letters that you can show to the authorities in these cases, but because these cards can be easily counterfeited, they are often disregarded. You can simply tell the authorities about your hip replacement (it is a common enough situation that they should be quite used to dealing with). Usually the officials will simply pat the area to make sure there are no metallic devices aside from the prosthetic.