Hip replacement surgery

Overview

During hip replacement, a surgeon removes the damaged sections of your hip joint and replaces them with parts usually constructed of metal, ceramic and very hard plastic. This artificial joint (prosthesis) helps reduce pain and improve function.

Also called total hip arthroplasty, hip replacement surgery might be an option for you if your hip pain interferes with daily activities and nonsurgical treatments haven't helped or are no longer effective. Arthritis damage is the most common reason to need hip replacement.

Why it's done:

Conditions that can damage the hip joint, sometimes making hip replacement surgery necessary, include:

  • Osteoarthritis: Commonly known as wear-and-tear arthritis, osteoarthritis damages the slick cartilage that covers the ends of bones and helps joints move smoothly.
  • Rheumatoid arthritis. Caused by an overactive immune system, rheumatoid arthritis produces a type of inflammation that can erode cartilage and occasionally underlying bone, resulting in damaged and deformed joints.
  • Osteonecrosis. If there isn't enough blood supplied to the ball portion of the hip joint, such as might result from a dislocation or fracture, the bone might collapse and deform.

You might consider hip replacement if you have hip pain that:

  • Persists, despite pain medication
  • Worsens with walking, even with a cane or walker
  • Interferes with your sleep
  • Makes it difficult to get dressed
  • Affects your ability to go up or down stairs
  • Makes it difficult to rise from a seated position

Risks:

Risks associated with hip replacement surgery can include:

  • Blood clots. Clots can form in your leg veins after surgery. This can be dangerous because a piece of a clot can break off and travel to your lung, heart or, rarely, your brain. Your doctor may prescribe blood-thinning medications to reduce this risk.
  • Infection. Infections can occur at the site of your incision and in the deeper tissue near your new hip. Most infections are treated with antibiotics, but a major infection near your prosthesis might require surgery to remove and replace the prosthesis.
  • Fracture. During surgery, healthy portions of your hip joint might fracture. Sometimes the fractures are small enough to heal on their own, but larger fractures might need to be stabilized with wires, screws, and possibly a metal plate or bone grafts.
  • Dislocation. Certain positions can cause the ball of your new joint to come out of the socket, particularly in the first few months after surgery. If the hip dislocates, your doctor might fit you with a brace to keep the hip in the correct position. If your hip keeps dislocating, surgery is often required to stabilize it.
  • Change in leg length. Your surgeon takes steps to avoid the problem, but occasionally a new hip makes one leg longer or shorter than the other. Sometimes this is caused by a contracture of muscles around the hip. In this case, progressively strengthening and stretching those muscles might help. You're not likely to notice, small differences in leg length after a few months.
  • Loosening. Although this complication is rare with newer implants, your new joint might not become solidly fixed to your bone or might loosen over time, causing pain in your hip. Surgery might be needed to fix the problem.
  • Nerve damage. Rarely, nerves in the area where the implant is placed can be injured. Nerve damage can cause numbness, weakness and pain.

Need for second hip replacement:

Your prosthetic hip joint might wear out eventually, especially if you have hip replacement surgery when you're relatively young and active. Then you might need a second hip replacement. However, new materials are making implants last longer.

How you prepare

Before surgery you'll meet with your orthopedic surgeon for an exam. The surgeon will:

  • Ask about your medical history and current medications
  • Examine your hip, paying attention to the range of motion in your joint and the strength of the surrounding muscles
  • Order blood tests, and an X-ray. An MRI is rarely needed

During this preoperative evaluation is a good time for you to ask questions about the procedure. Be sure to find out which medications you should avoid or continue to take in the week before surgery.

Because tobacco use can interfere with healing, stop using tobacco products for at least a month before surgery and for at least two months after surgery. If you need help to quit, talk to your doctor.

Don't have dental work, including teeth cleaning, two weeks before surgery.

What you can expect

When you check in for your surgery, you'll be asked to remove your clothes and put on a hospital gown. You'll be given either a spinal block, which numbs the lower half of your body, or a general anesthetic.

Your surgeon might also give you a nerve block by injecting an anesthetic around nerves or in and around the joint to help block pain after your surgery.

During the procedure

The surgical procedure takes a few hours. To perform a hip replacement, your surgeon:

  • Makes an incision over the front or side of your hip, through the layers of tissue
  • Removes diseased and damaged bone and cartilage, leaving healthy bone intact
  • Implants the prosthetic socket into your pelvic bone, to replace the damaged socket
  • Replaces the round ball on the top of your femur with the prosthetic ball, which is attached to a stem that fits into your thighbone

Techniques for hip replacement are constantly evolving. Surgeons continue to develop less invasive surgical techniques, which might reduce recovery time and pain.

After the procedure:

After surgery, you'll be moved to a recovery area for a few hours while your anesthesia wears off. Medical staff will monitor your blood pressure, pulse, alertness, pain or comfort level, and your need for medications.

Some people can go home the same day, but most are admitted to the hospital for one or two nights. You'll be asked to breathe deeply, cough or blow into a device to help keep fluid out of your lungs.

Blood clot prevention:

After your surgery, you'll be at increased risk of blood clots in your legs. Possible measures to prevent this complication include:

  • Moving early. You'll be encouraged to sit up and walk with crutches or a walker soon after surgery. This will likely happen the same day as your surgery or on the next day
  • Applying pressure. Both during and after surgery, you might wear elastic compression stockings or inflatable air sleeves similar to a blood pressure cuff on your lower legs. The pressure exerted by the inflated sleeves helps keep blood from pooling in the leg veins, reducing the chance that clots will form
  • Blood-thinning medication. Your surgeon might prescribe an injected or oral blood thinner after surgery. Depending on how soon you walk, how active you are and your overall risk of blood clots, you might need blood thinners for several weeks after surgery.

Physical therapy:

A physical therapist might help you with exercises you can do in the hospital and at home to speed recovery.

Activity and exercise must be a regular part of your day to regain the use of your joint and muscles. Your physical therapist will recommend strengthening and mobility exercises and will help you learn how to use a walking aid, such as a walker, a cane or crutches. As therapy progresses, you'll usually increase the weight you put on your leg until you're able to walk without assistance.

Home recovery and follow-up care:

Before you leave the hospital, you and your caregivers will get tips on caring for your new hip. For a smooth transition:

  • Arrange to have a friend or relative prepare some meals for you
  • Place everyday items at waist level, so you won't have to bend down or reach up
  • Consider making some modifications to your home, such as getting a raised toilet seat if you have an usually low toilet
  • Put things you need, such as your phone, tissues, TV remote, medicine and books near the area where you'll be spending most of your time during recovery

Six to 12 weeks after surgery, you'll have a follow-up appointment with your surgeon to make sure your hip is healing properly. If recovery is progressing well, most people resume at least some version of their normal activities by this time. Further recovery with improving strength will often occur for six to 12 months.

Results:

Expect your new hip joint to reduce the pain you felt before your surgery and increase the range of motion in your joint. But don't expect to do everything you could do before the hip became painful.

High-impact activities — such as running or playing basketball — might be too stressful on your artificial joint. But in time, you might be able to swim, play golf, hike or ride a bike comfortably

Shoulder Joint Replacement surgery

Shoulder Replacement Surgery

Overview

Shoulder replacement surgery involves removing damaged areas of your shoulder and replacing them with artificial parts. The procedure is performed to relieve pain and improve mobility. You might need a shoulder replacement if you have severe arthritis or a fracture in your shoulder joint.

Shoulder replacement surgery is usually recommended for people who have severe pain in their shoulder and have found little or no relief from more conservative treatments.

Some conditions that may require a shoulder replacement include:

  • Osteoarthritis. This type of arthritis is common in older people. It occurs when the cartilage that pads bones wears away
  • Rheumatoid arthritis (RA). With RA, your immune system mistakenly attacks your joints, causing pain and inflammation
  • Avascular necrosis. This condition happens when loss of blood to a bone occurs. It can cause damage and pain in the shoulder joint
  • A broken shoulder. If you badly break your shoulder bone, you might need a shoulder replacement to repair it

Your doctor can help you decide if shoulder replacement surgery is the best option for you.

People who have good results with shoulder surgery commonly have:

  • weakness or loss of motion in the shoulder
  • severe pain in the shoulder that interferes with everyday life
  • pain while resting or during sleep
  • little or no improvement after trying more conservative therapies, such as medications, injections, or physical therapy

This type of surgery is less successful in people with:

  • Diabetes
  • Depression
  • Obesity
  • Parkinson’s disease

How to prepare for surgery:

Several weeks before your procedure, your doctor may suggest that you have a complete physical exam to determine if you’re healthy enough for surgery.

You might need to stop taking certain medications a couple of weeks before the shoulder replacement. Some medications, including nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and arthritis therapies, can cause too much bleeding. Your physician will also tell you to stop taking blood thinners.

On the day of your procedure, it’s a good idea to wear loose-fitting clothing and a button-up shirt.

You’ll probably stay in the hospital for 2 or 3 days after surgery. Since driving is only recommended after you’ve regained normal motion and strength in your shoulder, you should arrange for someone to take you home from the hospital.

Most people require some assistance for about six weeks after surgery.

What happens during the procedure?

Shoulder replacement surgery typically takes about two hours. You might receive general anesthesia, which means you’ll be unconscious during the procedure, or regional anesthesia, which means you’ll be awake but sedated.

During the surgery, doctors replace the damaged joint “ball,” known as the humeral head, of the shoulder with a metal ball. They also place a plastic surface on the “socket” of the shoulder, known as the glenoid.

Sometimes, a partial shoulder replacement can be performed. This involves replacing only the ball of the joint.

After your procedure, you’ll be taken to a recovery room for several hours. When you wake up, you’ll be moved to a hospital room.

Recovery:

Shoulder replacement surgery is a major operation, so you’ll likely experience pain during your recovery. You might be given pain medications by injection right after your procedure.

A day or so following the surgery, your doctor or nurse will give you oral drugs to ease the discomfort.

Rehabilitation is started right away, usually on the day of surgery. Your healthcare staff will have you up and moving as soon as possible.

After a couple of days you’ll be discharged from the hospital. When you leave, your arm will be in a sling, which you’ll wear for about 2 to 4 weeks.

You should be prepared to have less arm function for about a month after surgery. You’ll need to be careful not to lift any objects that are heavier than 1 pound. You should also avoid activities that require pushing or pulling.

In general, most people are able to resume gentle daily living activities within two to six weeks. You might not be able to drive for about six weeks if the surgery was done on your right shoulder for people who drive on the right side of the road, or your left shoulder for those that drive on the left side of the road.

It’s important to perform all home exercises that your healthcare provider recommends. Over time, you will gain strength in your shoulder.

It will take about six months before you can expect to return to more vigorous activities, such as golfing or swimming.

Complications:

As with any surgery, a shoulder replacement carries risks. Though the complication rate after surgery is less than 5 percent, you could experience:

  • Infection
  • A reaction to anesthesia
  • Nerve or blood vessel damage
  • Rotator cuff tear
  • Fracture
  • Loosening or dislocation of the replacement components

How long will shoulder replacement last?

It’s difficult to say just how long your shoulder replacement will last. Experts estimate that most modern shoulder replacements will last for at least 15 to 20 years.