The hip is one of the largest joints in the body which allows a fair amount of movement and is one of the largest weight bearing joints in the body. Despite its durability, with age and use, the joint is prone to wearing away. The main structures in and around the hip can get overused leading to pain and weakness. This can cause you to slow down in activities and walking or even disturb your sleep. Hip replacement surgery is often performed to replace the worn out surfaces in the hip joint and replacing them with artificial ones. Hip replacement is the most common joint replacement surgery which often lasts over 20 years in the majority of patients.
Why would someone need a hip replacement?
Hip replacement surgery can be performed in adults of all ages.. The most common reason to have hip replacement surgery is to reduce pain and disability caused by osteoarthritis (sometimes called simply: arthritis) or other joint problems.
A hip replacement is major surgery, so it is only recommended if other conservative treatments, such as pain medications, physiotherapy or steroid injections, haven’t helped reduce pain or improve mobility. Your surgeon will offer you a hip replacement when the wear in your hip causes one or more of the following:
Severe pain, stiffness and swelling of your hip that interferes with your quality of life, social life, work, and sleep
Difficulty walking and doing everyday tasks, such as shopping or getting out of the bath.
Deformity in the hip joint which affects your gait (usually due to disorders of unusual bone growth)
Joint locking or instability
About Hip Replacement
Hip replacement surgery involves removing the damaged lining of the joints, replacing them with artificial surfaces with a similar function to that of a normal hip. An incision is made over the front or side of the hip. The hip is dislocated out of joint. The ball part of the hip is removed and the inside of the socket is cleaned up of any diseased or damaged bone. The surgeon then implants the artificial socket into your pelvic bone. The prosthetic ball is attached on top of a stem which is inserted into your thigh bone. The stem is made up of a type of metal but there are different combinations of metal, plastic or ceramic materials to make up the ball and socket.
The implants come in different sizes and your surgeon will select one which is suitable for you. There are two ways in which the surgeon can fix the components to your bone, with acrylic bone cement (cemented) or without (uncemented). Non-cemented implants have a roughened surface coated with a special material to stimulate bone growth around the implant. The type of hip and choice of fixations depends on age, activity, anatomy and lifestyle and what the surgeon is comfortable using as well as what is available at the hospital. NICE recommends devices that are known to have at least a 10 year lifespan in 95% of patients.
The graphic below shows what a hip replacement may look like inside your hip:
Watch the video on the NHS website and learn more.
References
NHS 2019, Hip Replacement – How It Is Performed, viewed 18 December 2020, link
Versus Arthritis 2018, Hip Replacement Surgery, viewed 18 December 2020, link
Did this answer your question?
😞 😐 😃