Total hip replacements are one of the most successful orthopaedic surgical operations.
Hip pain is commonly caused by wear and tear within the joint, and can stop you from going on long walks, doing exercise and sports, or getting a good night’s rest.Â
When the pain is affecting your quality of life and non surgical options aren’t helping, a hip replacement is something to consider due to its high success rates.Â
Getting you back to your daily activities sooner.
Hip replacements are a great operation to help with arthritic joint pain that’s affecting your daily activities. We do have non operative methods that can help in the early stages, but once established arthritis sets in, a joint replacement is a very reproducible procedure.Â
MINIMALLY INVASIVE SURGERY
When it comes to the approach for the hip, we use a minimally invasive direct anterior approach for the vast majority of patients. This approach goes between the muscles, with the potential advantages of a reduced dislocation rate, lower infection rate, and less pain for the first few weeks.
For a minority of patients due to their anatomy we may choose a minimally invasive direct superior approach, which also has a low dislocation rate. The approach we use will be discussed with you, with the aim of giving you a great long term result with the smoothest and quickest recovery.
3D PLANNED SURGERY
Positioning of the implants is important to make sure the hip is stable and doesn’t dislocate out of the socket, and to ensure the final leg lengths are equal. To assist this we use modern technology with mako robotics or 3 dimensional printed jigs and intraoperative imaging. Prior to surgery we get a CT scan to ensure we have a personalised virtual 3 Dimensional model of your hip joint, then we plan positioning of the implants looking at how flexible your spine is and seeing how the pelvis tilts and the implants move in virtual positioning software. During surgery we use these intraoperative planning tools to guide bone removal and implant positioning, allowing improved accuracy when compared to manual techniques without imaging.
After surgery we would expect you to be in hospital 1-3 days, walking with crutches until week 2, and a single stick for support until week 4, then walking without aids. Most of the acute discomfort and swelling will have resolved in a matter of weeks, but like any operation the body takes several months to fully heal.
