Hip Replacement Surgery

Essentially, the hip is a ball and joint socket and for a number of reasons, can wear over it's lifetime requiring replacement surgery to change or repair it.

Replacement surgery is highly successful in reducing the pain and disabilitating effects of worn or damaged hip joints. The surgery itself replaces both the natural socket (the acetabulum) and the rounded natural ball at the head of the thigh-bone (femur) with artificial parts (prosthetics).

• Why should it be done?

  Hip Replacement is the most effective treatment for a hip joint that can't function adequately and painlessly. 
  
  The most common causes of pain and reduced mobility are:

  • Osteoarthritis and Rheumatoid Arthritis
  • Septic Arthritis
  • Fracture of the neck of the thigh-bone (femur), with loss of the blood supply to the rounded head of the bone and resultant crumbling (avascular necrosis)
  • Other injury to the joint
  • Paget's disease of bone
  • The late (delayed) effects of congenital dislocation of the hips
  • Osteoporosis in women can lead to hip-joint fractures.
• How is it performed?

  In the operation, done under general or spinal (epidural) anaesthetic, the existing hip joint is completely replaced. The upper part of the femur (thigh bone) is removed and the natural hollow for the head of the femur (the acetabulum) is hollowed out. A plastic socket is fitted into the hollow in the pelvis. A short, angled metal shaft, with a smooth ball on its upper end to fit into the socket, is placed into the hollow of the thigh-bone. The plastic cup and the artificial bone-head may be a press-fit or they may be fixed with acrylic cement.

  The hip replacement operation has come to be thought of by many as a routine and simple procedure however, it is major surgery requiring a skilled surgeon, and it like all surgery carries a degree of risk.

• Bone Donation Programme

  If you are having a primary hip replacement operation, it may be possible for you to donate the bone which will be removed during the surgery. For more information on our programme please click here

• Wrightington Hospital

  In 2018 alone, our Orthopaedic Surgeons performed more than 3000 hip and knee replacements.
  
  We are able to offer exceptional clinical outcomes when compared to other providers using the National Joint Registry data.
  
  We have the Lowest Infection Rates of any NHS Hospital in the UK.
  
  We have one of the Lowest Readmission Rates in the North West.