The surgery is also known as total hip arthroplasty and is a surgical procedure that is undertaken for removal of damaged bone/joint tissue and replacing it with new, artificial parts. Hip Replacement Surgery is called for when hip is severely worn out due to factors like serious hip injury or arthritis, thus severely restricting the movement of the patients. This surgery helps patients to increase their mobility and day-today activity levels and at the same time relieving the pain factor while doing natural body movements.
Causes for Hip Damage -
· Arthritis is the most common cause of chronic hip pain and incurring disability
· Osteoarthritis (a condition where cartilage cushioning bones of hip wears away thus resulting in bones rubbing directly against each other)
· Rheumatoid Arthritis that causes chronic inflammation to joints thus causing stiffness, joint pain and swelling
· Serious hip injury or fracture that results in post-traumatic arthritis (due to bone and cartilage not healing properly)
Other than these factors an injury, tumour or insufficient blood supply also leads to the breakdown of hip joint
Surgery Recommendation -
The recommendation of surgery is based on extent of pain, disability and health status of the patient. They may benefit from hip replacement surgery in cases where:
· Incurred pain limits their daily activities like walking & bending
· Uncomfortable lying position at night because of the pain
· Non-surgical treatments like physical therapy and exercise programs providing little or no relief
· Patients suffering from pain medication side effects
Procedure -
Hip joint is located where ball (femoral head) at upper end of femur meets rounded socket (acetabulum) in the pelvis. For doing hip replacement surgery, a joint is formed by ends of two/more bones which are connected by ligaments. During involved surgical procedure, orthopaedic surgeon helps in removing damaged cartilage and bone and replacing the ball of femur and pelvis socket with new artificial implant.
With the involved surgical procedure generally taking 1 to 2 hours to complete (depending on the complexity of the operation), Surgeons make use of variety of options in creating artificial hip joints. The main implants comprise of -
· Ball - Made of highly polished metal
· Socket - A durable plastic cup with option of outer metal shell
Securing Artificial Hip Joints -
The following techniques are used for securing artificial hip joints by the Surgeons -
Cemented procedure - Surgical cement is used for filling gap between prosthesis and remaining natural bone, thus helping in securing the artificial joint. This procedure is mostly used for patients who are old and thus less active in their daily life as well as patients with weakened bones like in case of osteoporosis.
Non-Cemented procedure - Here, the artificial parts are made of porous material thus allowing patient’s own bone tissues to grow into pores and holding new implanted parts in place. This surgery is preferred on younger and more active people.
Hybrid Replacement - At times Surgeon may use a combination of technique where a cemented ball and a non-cemented socket are used.
Post Operative Care -
The post operative care procedure of the patient starts soon after the surgery which is at times a day after the surgery. This includes physical therapy and exercises that help in improving the recovery cycle of the patients including enabling them to make body movements like sitting on side of bed or walking with assistance. However, the complete recovery from surgery takes from three to six months (depending on type/complexity of the surgery).
Role of MIS
Minimally Invasive Surgery (MIS) for handling cases of total joint replacement has come up as a more recent advancement. This includes use of computer-assisted navigation system that allows surgeons to better navigate joint areas with minimal risk. This technique allows surgeons to make much smaller incisions than those required in traditional joint replacement surgery, thus decreasing the trauma caused to the surrounding nerve tissues. Other than this, the precise navigational system also helps Surgeons in precise instrument handling and placement of the artificial implant in relation to patient’s anatomy.
Derived Benefits -
Some of the derived benefits of MIS include:
· Sensors incorporated into specially designed surgical instruments provide real-time feedback about position and movement of instruments
· Sensors attached to joint bones at beginning of surgery and built into artificial implants helps in ensuring that the joint is well aligned in place.
· Computer navigational system allow surgeons while working with minimal incision sizes to perform accurate implanting of artificial joint
Causes for Hip Damage -
· Arthritis is the most common cause of chronic hip pain and incurring disability
· Osteoarthritis (a condition where cartilage cushioning bones of hip wears away thus resulting in bones rubbing directly against each other)
· Rheumatoid Arthritis that causes chronic inflammation to joints thus causing stiffness, joint pain and swelling
· Serious hip injury or fracture that results in post-traumatic arthritis (due to bone and cartilage not healing properly)
Other than these factors an injury, tumour or insufficient blood supply also leads to the breakdown of hip joint
Surgery Recommendation -
The recommendation of surgery is based on extent of pain, disability and health status of the patient. They may benefit from hip replacement surgery in cases where:
· Incurred pain limits their daily activities like walking & bending
· Uncomfortable lying position at night because of the pain
· Non-surgical treatments like physical therapy and exercise programs providing little or no relief
· Patients suffering from pain medication side effects
Procedure -
Hip joint is located where ball (femoral head) at upper end of femur meets rounded socket (acetabulum) in the pelvis. For doing hip replacement surgery, a joint is formed by ends of two/more bones which are connected by ligaments. During involved surgical procedure, orthopaedic surgeon helps in removing damaged cartilage and bone and replacing the ball of femur and pelvis socket with new artificial implant.
With the involved surgical procedure generally taking 1 to 2 hours to complete (depending on the complexity of the operation), Surgeons make use of variety of options in creating artificial hip joints. The main implants comprise of -
· Ball - Made of highly polished metal
· Socket - A durable plastic cup with option of outer metal shell
Securing Artificial Hip Joints -
The following techniques are used for securing artificial hip joints by the Surgeons -
Cemented procedure - Surgical cement is used for filling gap between prosthesis and remaining natural bone, thus helping in securing the artificial joint. This procedure is mostly used for patients who are old and thus less active in their daily life as well as patients with weakened bones like in case of osteoporosis.
Non-Cemented procedure - Here, the artificial parts are made of porous material thus allowing patient’s own bone tissues to grow into pores and holding new implanted parts in place. This surgery is preferred on younger and more active people.
Hybrid Replacement - At times Surgeon may use a combination of technique where a cemented ball and a non-cemented socket are used.
Post Operative Care -
The post operative care procedure of the patient starts soon after the surgery which is at times a day after the surgery. This includes physical therapy and exercises that help in improving the recovery cycle of the patients including enabling them to make body movements like sitting on side of bed or walking with assistance. However, the complete recovery from surgery takes from three to six months (depending on type/complexity of the surgery).
Role of MIS
Minimally Invasive Surgery (MIS) for handling cases of total joint replacement has come up as a more recent advancement. This includes use of computer-assisted navigation system that allows surgeons to better navigate joint areas with minimal risk. This technique allows surgeons to make much smaller incisions than those required in traditional joint replacement surgery, thus decreasing the trauma caused to the surrounding nerve tissues. Other than this, the precise navigational system also helps Surgeons in precise instrument handling and placement of the artificial implant in relation to patient’s anatomy.
Derived Benefits -
Some of the derived benefits of MIS include:
· Sensors incorporated into specially designed surgical instruments provide real-time feedback about position and movement of instruments
· Sensors attached to joint bones at beginning of surgery and built into artificial implants helps in ensuring that the joint is well aligned in place.
· Computer navigational system allow surgeons while working with minimal incision sizes to perform accurate implanting of artificial joint