Total Hip Replacement

Source: We care India

A Total Hip Replacement (THR) – also called a Hip Arthroplasty is a surgical procedure that re-forms the hip-joint.

Osteoarthritis of the hip is the most common diagnosis that leads to hip replacement. Osteoarthritis is caused by wear and tear. It affects the cartilage surfaces of the ball-and-socket joint of the hip. The cartilage wears out. Pain and stiffness result. Patients with hip arthritis have difficulty walking, climbing stairs and performing routine daily activities.

Other conditions that can cause destruction of the hip joint include : –

• Loss of blood supply to the head of the thighbone
• Rheumatoid arthritis (an inflammatory autoimmune disease)
• Previous injury or trauma
• Infection
• Developmental abnormalities in the hip

Total hip replacement surgery is offered to people whose hip joints have been damaged either by injury or by conditions associated with old age such as arthritis. Although it is a common surgical procedure, it is also a major hospital operation that replaces your original hip joint with an artificial one. If successful it usually results in a greatly improved quality of life, with less pain for the patient. All our Indian hospitals conduct this operation routinely and frequently.

Hip Replacement in India helps patient in their Orthopaedics related treatments by packaging their medical trip to India and it also offers a full complement of surgical as well as physiotherapy services exclusively to International Patients combined with their post – discharge recuperative holidays.

Conventional Total Hip Replacement is a very successful procedure for the treatment of Hip Arthritis.

The purpose of total hip replacement is to remove the two damaged and worn parts of the hip joint – the hip socket (acetabulum) and the ball (femoral head) – and replace them with smooth, artificial implants called prostheses, which will help make the hip strong, stable, and flexible again.

For younger, more active people needing a hip replacement there is a high chance that a traditional hip replacement will wear out during their lifetime and need to be replaced again a second replacement (revision) is much more difficult and consequently may last a shorter time than the original replacement.

In THR, the head of the femur (the bone that extends from the hip to the knee) is removed along with the surface layer of the socket in the pelvis (the two large bones that rest on the lower limbs and support the spinal column).

• The head of the femur, which is situated within the pelvis socket, is replaced with a metal ball and stem. This stem fits into the shaft of the femur.
• The socket is replaced with a plastic or a metal and plastic cup.

Hip replacements typically last 20 to 25 years, so a younger person who undergoes a hip replacement is likely to need multiple hip replacement surgeries/revisions in the span of his or her lifetime

Total Hip Replacement Preparation

• Talk to someone who has undergone hip replacement surgery to become familiar with the procedure and the recovery period.
• Because you may need blood transfusions during the operation or recovery period, you may want to donate some of your own blood before the procedure to be given back to you.
• Do not eat or drink anything after midnight on the day of your surgery. Follow any other instructions your doctor gives you.

What Does Hip Replacement Surgery Involve?

The hip joint is located where the upper end of the femur meets the acetabulum. The femur, or thigh bone, looks like a long stem with a ball on the end. The acetabulum is a socket or cup-like structure in the pelvis, or hip bone. This “ball and socket” arrangement allows a wide range of motion, including sitting, standing, walking, and other daily activities.

During hip replacement, the surgeon removes the diseased bone tissue and cartilage from the hip joint. The healthy parts of the hip are left intact. Then the surgeon replaces the head of the femur (the ball) and the acetabulum (the socket) with new, artificial parts. The new hip is made of materials that allow a natural, gliding motion of the joint. Hip replacement surgery usually lasts 2 to 3 hours.

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