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Why it's done
By Mayo Clinic staffThe goal of hip replacement surgery is to relieve pain and increase the mobility and function of a damaged hip joint. If a stiff, painful hip joint has forced you to cut back on everyday activities, successful surgery may allow you to resume them.
Before thinking about surgery, though, your doctor may recommend other treatments, such as pain medications, physical therapy, exercise, and using a cane or walker. If these treatments are not enough, hip replacement may be the right option for you.
Conditions that can damage the hip joint, sometimes necessitating hip replacement surgery, include:
- Osteoarthritis
- Rheumatoid arthritis
- Broken hip
- Bone tumor
- Osteonecrosis, which occurs when there is inadequate blood supply to the ball portion of the hip joint
Symptoms that might lead you to consider hip replacement include:
- Pain that keeps you awake at night
- Little or no relief from pain medications or walking aids
- Difficulty walking up or down stairs
- Trouble rising from a seated position
- Having to stop activities you enjoy, such as walking, because you're in too much pain
- Erens GA, et al. Total hip arthroplasty. http:www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Feb. 16, 2009.
- Erens GA, et al. Complications of total hip arthroplasty. http:www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Feb. 16, 2009.
- Questions and answers about hip replacement. National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases. http://www.niams.nih.gov/Health_Info/Hip_Replacement/default.asp. Accessed Feb. 16, 2009.
- Total hip replacement. American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. http://orthoinfo.aaos.org/topic.cfm?topic=A00377. Accessed Feb. 16, 2009.
- Huo MH, et al. What's new in hip arthroplasty. The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery. 2008;90:2043.
- Lenssen AF, et al. Role of physiotherapy in peri-operative management in total knee and hip surgery. Injury. 2006;37(suppl):S41.
- Ferrara PE, et al. Effect of pre-operative physiotherapy in patients with end-stage osteoarthritis undergoing hip arthroplasty. Clinical Rehabilition. 2008;22:977.
- Vukomanovic A, et al. The effects of short-term preoperative physical therapy and education on early functional recovery of patients younger than 70 undergoing total hip arthroplasty. Vojnosanitetski Pregled. 2008;4:291.
- O'Donnell M, et al. Reduction of out-of-hospital symptomatic venous thromboembolism by extended thromboprophylaxis with low-molecular-weight heparin following elective hip arthroplasty. Archives of Internal Medicine. 2003;163:1362.
- Cawley Y. Mechanical thromboprophylaxis in the perioperative setting. Medsurg Nursing. 2008;17:177.
- Prokuski L. Prophylactic antibiotics in orthopaedic surgery. Journal of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgery. 2008;16:283.
