Hip replacement

If you're experiencing a fracture in the top part of your femur, then partial hip replacement might be an effective treatment option for you. During this surgery, our orthopedic specialists replace the damaged ball portion of your hip joint with a prosthetic. The most common reason for partial hip replacement is to relieve pain caused by arthritis.

If total hip replacement is the best option for you, it’s important to know what is involved in the procedure.

First, your orthopedic surgeon will remove the damaged femoral head and replace it with a durable prosthetic component. At the top of the prosthesis, your surgeon will attach a ceramic ball that will form one part of your new hip joint.

To repair the socket part of your joint, your surgeon will remove damaged cartilage from the acetabulum and replace it with another prosthetic component. To hold the repaired socket in place, surgeons may use screws or cement.

In order to maintain the hip’s fluid motion, your surgeon will place a spacer between the ball and socket components of your new hip.

Anterior approach

This approach allows your surgeon to minimize the trauma to the muscles and anatomy surrounding the hip by requiring them to part the muscles instead of surgically separating them. Performed through a smaller incision made in the front of the hip, total hip replacement performed with the anterior approach typically results in less pain, an easier recovery, a reduced hospital stay and a decreased risk for hip dislocation.

Lateral approach

Surgeons using the lateral approach make an incision on the side of the hip, accessing the joint by moving the muscles out of the way.

Posterior approach

To access the hip joint using a posterior approach, surgeons make an incision in the rear of your leg, close to the buttocks. Because the incisions is made in a way that spares muscle involvement, this approach, like the anterior approach, is also considered minimally invasive.