Young and highly active patients need special consideration when choosing their hip replacements. This is to minimise the wear of the mobile parts of the hip replacement (bearing surfaces) which can lead to early failure of the hip replacement.
A hip replacement is comprised of a ball in the socket joint. The components that articulate with each other in this ball in the socket joint are known as the bearing surface.
The original hip replacement designs used a metal head and a plastic (polyethylene) socket/liner as the bearing surface. Hip replacements would fail over time due to the wear of the plastic in these hip replacement designs.
Developments in hip replacement design have led to the creation of modern ceramics (BIOLOX delta) which can be used as both the femoral head and acetabular liner.
Ceramic on ceramic bearings have been shown to have the lowest wear rates of any modern hip bearing combination (0.001 mm/year).
This ability to have this ultra-low wear rate is particularly important in young and highly active patients to minimise the risk of wearing out their hip replacements.
The shape (anatomy) of everyone’s hips is different. Most modern hip replacement designs account for the variation in the anatomy of the hip joint.
In some cases, however, the natural anatomy of the hip joint may be very different. This can be due to childhood hip conditions or previous trauma.
In these scenarios, it is important to use specialised implants in order to recreate normal anatomy. This can be done using implants which have multiple options to adjust the biomechanics of the hip. Another option in this scenario is to custom-make an implant designed specifically to fit the anatomy required.
I always work closely with patients to create the best option for them in these complex scenarios.
Robotic surgery is one of the most recent advancements in hip replacement surgery.
With robotic surgery hip replacements are planned in advance using up-to-date CT scans. This allows implant position to be planned in 3 dimensions using current cross-sectional imaging.
The robotic system uses intra-operative navigation to help guide positioning. This may improve the precision of hip replacement surgery.
I work with you to provide you with the best solution for your hip.
There are many techniques available to perform a hip replacement. The surgical method used to access the hip joint is known as the Surgical Approach.
My routine practice is to use a minimally invasive approach to perform hip replacement surgery. I will discuss with you the relative advantages and disadvantages of using different surgical approaches to the hip joint.
Commonly used approaches for hip replacement include:
This is a guide to recovery; however, every patient’s recovery is individual.
Average Hospital Stay: 1 to 3 days
Fully weight bearing: on day of surgery
Use of crutches: 1 to 6 weeks
Return to Driving: 6-8 weeks
Wound Healing: 2 weeks (dissolvable sutures are used which do not need to be removed)
I do not use post-operative hip precautions routinely in my practice.
To find out more information my practice about or to make an appointment please get in touch with my secretary.