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Why it's done
By Mayo Clinic staffThe goal of hip replacement surgery is to relieve pain and increase the mobility and function of a damaged hip joint. If a stiff, painful hip joint has forced you to cut back on everyday activities, successful surgery may allow you to resume them.
Before thinking about surgery, though, your doctor may recommend other treatments, such as pain medications, physical therapy, exercise, and use of a cane or walker. If these treatments are not enough, hip replacement may be the right option for you.
Conditions that can damage the hip joint, sometimes necessitating hip replacement surgery, include:
- Osteoarthritis
- Rheumatoid arthritis
- Broken hip
- Bone tumor
- Osteonecrosis, which occurs when there is inadequate blood supply to the ball portion of the hip joint
Symptoms that might lead you to consider hip replacement include:
- Persistent pain, despite pain medication
- Pain exacerbated by walking, even with a cane or walker
- Poor sleep due to pain
- Difficulty going up or down stairs
- Trouble rising from a seated position
- Inability to participate in formerly enjoyable activities because of pain
- Erens GA, et al. Total hip arthroplasty. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed March 2, 2011.
- Erens GA, et al. Complications of total hip arthroplasty. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed March 2, 2011.
- Questions and answers about hip replacement. National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases. http://www.niams.nih.gov/Health_Info/Hip_Replacement/default.asp. Accessed March 2, 2011.
- Total hip replacement. American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. http://orthoinfo.aaos.org/topic.cfm?topic=A00377. Accessed March 3, 2011.
- Huo MH, et al. What's new in total hip arthroplasty. The Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery. 2010;92:2959.
- Lenssen AF, et al. Role of physiotherapy in peri-operative management in total knee and hip surgery. Injury. 2006;37(suppl):S41.
- Ferrara PE, et al. Effect of pre-operative physiotherapy in patients with end-stage osteoarthritis undergoing hip arthroplasty. Clinical Rehabilitation. 2008;22:977.
- O'Donnell M, et al. Reduction of out-of-hospital symptomatic venous thromboembolism by extended thromboprophylaxis with low-molecular-weight heparin following elective hip arthroplasty. Archives of Internal Medicine. 2003;163:1362.
- Cawley Y. Mechanical thromboprophylaxis in the perioperative setting. Medsurg Nursing. 2008;17:177.
- Harkess JW, et al. Arthroplasty of the hip. In: In: Canale ST, et al. Campbell's Operative Orthopaedics. 11th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Mosby Elsevier; 2008. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/208746819-4/0/1584/0.html. Accessed March 8, 2011.
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