Total hip replacement surgery is used to treat people with severe hip joint damage from arthritis or injury. The procedure has a 90 percent success rate, and following rehabilitation, patients can expect to regain full mobility of the hip joint. During the surgical procedure, the damaged hip joint will be removed and replaced by an artificial joint. Since there are several different hip replacement procedures, it is best to consult with your doctor to determine which method is best for you.
Standard Hip Replacement Procedure
Before beginning the operation, your doctor will administer a general anesthesia or a spinal block to prepare you for surgery. In a standard hip replacement procedure, the surgeon will make an incision between 10 to 14 inches over the side of the hip and through the layers of your skin, muscle tendons and ligaments. Once the incision is complete, the surgeon will remove any damaged bone and cartilage while leaving all of the healthy bone intact. Then, a prosthetic socket will be inserted into the pelvic bone followed by a prosthetic ball that attaches to a stem inside your thighbone. This completes the surgery, and a nurse will likely move you to a recovery area while the anesthesia wears off. Most people fully recover between six to eight weeks after the operation, and you can expect your new artificial joint to act the same way same as a healthy hip joint.
Minimally Invasive Hip Replacement Procedure
Minimally invasive hip replacement surgery is another way to treat people with severe hip joint damage. It is less invasive than the standard hip replacement surgery and also causes less soft tissue disruption. This procedure is said to reduce post-operative recovery time as well as pain associated with the surgery. However, studies comparing minimally invasive hip replacement surgery with the standard hip replace surgery show mixed results, making it hard to determine which procedure is more effective.
During a minimally invasive hip replacement procedure, the surgeon will use the same prosthesis as in regular hip surgery, but it is performed using much smaller incisions. There are two different methods of minimally invasive hip surgery. Depending on multiple factors such as, the patient's arthritis, bone type and body size, your doctor will determine which method is best suited for you. The first type of procedure is called the "two incision method" in which the surgeon makes two small incisions about two inches long around the hip. The artificial hip is then placed into the body between the two incisions. The second type of procedure, known as the "one incision method," works the same way as the previous method, only the surgeon will reduce the incision to less than four inches long.
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