Patients who experience excruciating pain in their hips are prescribed various treatment options to help with the pain. Healthcare providers might suggest undergoing hip replacement surgery when that does not work. It involves replacing the joint with a prosthesis that improves the patient’s quality of life and provides pain management. Hip pain can result from health conditions like arthritis, osteonecrosis, and more. This procedure offers the patient an improved range of motion and speed.

What is a hip replacement?
Hip replacement or hip arthroplasty is the surgical procedure performed to replace a damaged one with an artificial prosthetic hip made of plastic, ceramic, or metal. It is performed on patients when other treatment avenues like walkers, oral treatments, and physical therapy have fallen short. Hip replacement surgeries are common today but aren’t performed without alternative options. About 2.5 million of the country’s residents have undergone a total hip replacement procedure.

What leads to hip replacement?
Numerous health conditions involving inflammation or injury of the joint could be the cause of requiring hip replacement surgery. Osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and psoriatic arthritis are common reasons for hip replacement. Hip dislocation or fractures, neoplasms, osteonecrosis, an unhealed injury, and developmental hip dysplasia are other reasons a patient might someday require hip replacement surgery.

What are the types of hip replacement surgery?
The hip replacement procedure is primarily divided into two categories. Partial hip replacement is the procedure where a replacement is made just for the head of the femur bone. It is common in patients with certain types of hip fractures.
Total hip replacement is when a prosthetic hip replaces the acetabulum and the femoral head, a more common type of procedure among the two.

What are the indications for a hip replacement procedure?
Symptoms that are indicative of hip replacement surgery are dependent on the issue that is causing problems for the patients. Some common symptoms include pain when active or at rest, difficulty walking, loss of range of motion, increased pain when weight is put on the hip or the leg, tightness of the hip, pain in the groin, and difficulty putting on shoes.

Risks involved
Just like with any other prosthetic and surgery, there is a list of possible risk factors that the hospital staff and the patients need to keep an eye out for:

Infection
Any surgery has a high chance of catching an infection on the incision site. But, the prosthesis means there is also a risk of infection inside the body, that in some cases may require another surgery and replacing the prosthetic hip.

Blood clots
Clots pose a more significant threat than just cutting off blood supply to the leg till they are detected. It may travel up and lodge in the lung, the heart, or the brain. Patients are put on blood thinners to avoid the possibility of clot formation.

Discoloration
Patients will require time to get used to a prosthetic hip, and so will the body to assimilate the foreign object. There are chances some movements or positions might push out the prosthesis. This can be further prevented with the help of a hip brace. However, if the dislocation continues, another surgery might be needed to stabilize the replacement hip.

Nerve damage
Although a rare complication, it is possible for the nerve endings in the hip region to be impacted. This could lead to symptoms like numbness and pain.

Fracture
Patients might get the healthy portions of their hip fractured during the surgical procedure. These fractures, if minor, can heal on their own; however, in case of more severe fractures, doctors might need to stabilize them with the help of surgery.

Health conditions like systemic lupus and severe rheumatoid arthritis are reasons that put a patient at higher risk of this complication. It is important to discuss expectations and possible outcomes with the orthopedic surgeon performing the surgery.

What does the procedure involve?
Hip replacement surgeries are performed either in surgical centers or hospitals. The procedure is generally considered an outpatient procedure. However, if any, the patient might be required to stay for observation and complication resolution. The average time needed for a total hip replacement surgery is a couple of hours. However, the time can differ based on the complexity of the case. The patients are taken to a recovery room after the procedure and monitored for pain and other side effects.

Recovery
Multiple variables play a role in the surgery’s success rate and the recovery time required. This involves the patient’s muscle and bone strength. Staying committed to physical therapy appointments and following the rehabilitation plan is another contributing factor to the length of recovery. The general recovery period is estimated to be a few weeks to months.