Hip Replacement
How do I know if my hip is bad enough for a hip replacement?
Hip replacement is major surgery but has excellent patient satisfaction with more than 90% of patients reporting good to excellent results. The decision to replace your hip is based on a combination of your reported symptoms, impact on your day-to-day life, examination findings and imaging (XRAYS or CT scan).
Below is a link to a self-reported scoring system to determine the severity of your arthritis. While not the only factor to consider in determining your appropriateness for joint replacement surgery, it is validated and helpful to quantify your symptoms and potential improvement from joint replacement surgery.
More information: http://www.orthopaedicscore.com/scorepages/oxford_hip_score.html
What is a hip replacement?
- This hip is a ball (head of the femur) and socket (also called the acetabulum, a cup like structure in the pelvis) joint
- A hip replacement involves resurfacing the socket on the pelvic side of the hip joint, and replacing the ball at the top of the thigh bone. A stem is placed inside the top part of the femur (thigh bone) to support the new ball. The stem is fixed either with cement or a bone in-growth surface. The new socket surface is usually fixed with a bone in-growth surface and screws.
- The surgery is done through an 6-8 cm cut at the top of your leg on the back. Computer navigation is used to align the components. This involves a couple of tiny incisions at the top of your pelvis.
- The wound is closed with dissolving stitches and dressings (wound coverings) are applied.
- Dr. Cohen uses components with proven results on the joint replacement registry.
While much has been made of the materials used in hip replacement Dr. Cohen uses either a ceramic or metal on polyethylene (plastic) bearing surface for hip replacement surgery. If you would like to learn more, be sure to ask Dr. Cohen about the materials he has chosen for your hip replacement surgery.
What is Dr. Cohen’s chosen approach for total hip replacement?
There are different ways of getting into a hip joint. It is possible to do a hip replacement from the back, side, front or even top. The main goal of hip replacement is to place the internal components accurately irrespective of the approach.
It is possible to get an excellent result via any of the available approaches. There are pros and cons to the different approaches which you could consider as fine tuning.
Dr. Cohen will discuss the approach options with you at your appointment as well as the pros and cons as they relate specifically to your operation.
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