Mr Tofunmi Oni, Consultant Orthopaedic Hip and Knee Surgeon at One Ashford Hospital discusses hip arthritis and available treatment options.
What is the hip joint?
The hip joint is a ball-and-socket joint that allows movement and provides stability that is needed for the body to weight bear through.
The socket area, also known as the acetabulum is inside the pelvis and this is linked to the ball at the top of the thighbone (femur). Both in combination with a smooth lining of cartilage form the hip joint.
What is hip arthritis?
Hip arthritis is an extremely common disease of the hip which is most commonly caused by wear and tear over time and generally presents in people over the age of fifty. It can also be caused by previous traumatic experiences to the joint or other joint diseases.
In all causes, the end result is thinning of the lining cartilage of the joint which typically produces groin pain, buttock or thigh pain, all of which is heightened by increased use. This can result in reduction in mobility, sleep and overall quality of life.
How can hip arthritis be treated?
It can be initially be treated by over-the-counter pain medication, steroid injections and physiotherapy. How effective these treatments are, largely depends on the severity of the disease. If severe, or indeed these non-operative strategies do not prove to manage the pain, then hip replacement surgery would be the most reliable sustained method of treatment.
What is a hip replacement?
Hip replacement surgery has been described as the operation of the century owing to its extremely high success rate, low complication rate and economic benefits to society. It is a very common procedure whereby the damaged hip joint is replaced with a prosthetic ball and socket joint. This is usually made of a combination of metal, ceramic and plastic attached to bone, either with a coating that encourages bonding to the bone or bone cement.
How is hip replacement surgery performed?
The procedure is carried out under anaesthetic, either a spinal anaesthetic to numb the legs in combination with a sedative, or a general anaesthetic. Either way you will not be aware of the procedure unless there is a desire to be.
Your surgeon will make an entry cut at the hip joint and remove the working ball and sock joints, creating space for an artificial ball replacement to be introduced with fixation down the thigh bone, and an artificial socket set in place which will smoothly articulate with the new ball.
How long will it take for me to recover?
The initial anaesthetic wears off soon after the procedure and as soon as it is safe, work can begin with the help of physiotherapists to start to mobilise either on the same day or day after the procedure. There will be some discomfort which is controlled by pain relief and you will be discharged to go home once deemed safe and pain is controlled. This can be less than 24 hours in some individuals. The effects of the operation are fairly instant but the pain from the operation itself is a factor that is less relevant within 1-2 weeks. Most people are able to walk unaided and drive by 6 weeks. This is also the mark it is safe to take short haul flights. Intense physiotherapy is key to achieve the highest possible results.
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