Hip Replacement

Most total hip replacement patients get out of bed on the day of surgery or the first day after. It is felt that faster mobilization speeds rehabilitation and prevents medical complications. You will first get...

Pain medication after hip replacement surgery can be given through an epidural catheter, through an intra-venous line (IV), or by mouth. Postoperative pain is greatest in the first 2 or 3 days after surgery. If...

Most patients who undergo total hip arthroplasty will need to be in the hospital for 3 to 4 days following surgery. After their hospital stay, many patients choose to go to a secondary rehabilitation facility...

Ceramics are hard materials that are inorganic and nonmetallic. They are materials which are formed by the action of heat. The word ceramic comes from the Greek keramikos. Examples of ceramics are clay, glass, cement,...

Metal on metal total hip replacements have been in use for approximately 50 years. Because the combination of metal on polyethylene has been so effective and so popular, far fewer metal on metal total hip...

Modular parts are interchangeable pieces that go together to make up one structure. Both the femoral and the acetabular components of a total hip arthroplasty may be modular. The original total hip components were monoblock....

Bone cement is an acrylic cement used to hold implants in bone in joint replacement. Bone cement is not really a glue. It is a filler, or grout used to keep the implants in place....

The components of a total hip replacement may be either press fit or cemented into bone. Press fit means that the specific component is impacted tightly into a space of the same size as the...

Most hip replacements are made up of a combination of metal and plastic. The femoral head and femoral stem are metal. The acetabular component is a durable plastic. Together, these materials work together to create...

It takes most surgeons between 1 and 2 hours to per-form a routine total hip replacement. Not all of the time spent in the operating room, however, is taken up by the surgery itself. You...

Surgery is done with the patient either lying down (supine) or on his or her side (lateral decubitus). Several surgical approaches can be made—anterior (from the front), posterior (from the back) or approaches closer to...

In the operating room, an orthopaedic surgeon doing hip replacement will have one or two assistants at the operating table. The assistant may be another orthopaedic surgeon, a physician’s assistant (PA) or registered nurse first...

Hip replacement surgery is done by an orthopaedic surgeon. An orthopaedic surgeon is a physician trained in the care of problems and diseases of the muscu-loskeletal system. The term orthopaedic was first used by Nicholas...

If you are having surgery you will need to have anesthesia. Anesthesia means without feeling. For hip replacement surgery, anesthesia can be either general or regional. With general anesthesia, you are completely asleep. Regional anesthesia...

Can my friends and family donate blood? Many patients undergoing total hip arthroplasty will require transfusion either during surgery or in the postoperative period. For this reason, you may choose to donate your own blood...

Your orthopaedic surgeon may ask that you have a general medical checkup before you come in to the hospital. The place to start is with your regular physician. Usually, this is a physician who specializes...

Once you have decided to have total hip surgery it is important to plan for your procedure and your care after surgery. It is helpful to involve your family or caregivers in the planning process....

Arthroscopy is being used more and more for treatment of a painful hip. While arthroscopic procedures are most commonly done in the knee, shoulder and elbow, more surgeons are gaining experience with arthroscopy of the...

Core decompression is a surgical procedure used to treat hip pain in the early stages of avascular necrosis. One of the causes of pain in AVN is increased pressure in the bone marrow of the...

Osteotomy literally means cutting of the bone. In orthopaedic surgery, an osteotomy is an operation where a section of the bone is cut so that the bone may be realigned to a better position. An...

A hip fusion is a procedure where the ball of the femur and socket are brought together to form a single bone. The purpose of the fusion is to relieve pain and to sta-bilize the...

Resurfacing is a type of hip replacement that preserves bone in the proximal femur. In a standard total hip, the entire femoral head and a large part of the femoral neck are removed and replaced...

Bipolar replacement, or arthroplasty, is one type of partial hip replacement that is frequently done for fractures, but can also be done for arthritis, avascular necrosis, and other problems about the hip. It is an...

Many patients who are candidates for total hip surgery have had a previous surgical procedure on their hips. Having surgery on your hip in the past does not pre-vent you from having a total hip...

For many years, surgeons felt that hip replacement surgery should be reserved for elderly patients. No one knew how long a hip replacement would last. It made sense to only do the operation in older...