- The hip is a ball and socket joint. When severe arthritis causes pain that can not be controlled by other methods, hip replacement surgery can help alleviate pain.
- Traditional hip replacement replaces the ball with a metal head, that is secured to the thigh bone or femur through a metal stem. The socket is replaced by a metal acetabular shell. A plastic liner is placed between the head and shell to allow for smooth gliding of the surfaces.
- While traditional hip replacement has a long and proven track record, it requires the removal of a substantial amount of bone to insert the metal stem into the femur. In a young patient who will likely require revision hip replacement in the future, repeated stem replacement requires further removal of bone which makes future procedures increasingly more difficult.
- Surface replacement removes less of the patient's bone and caps the ball and socket of the hip with metal components. This means that future procedures will deal with bony anatomy that is closer to normal. In addition, no plastic liner is used, decreasing the amount of wear that happens in the hip joint over time.
- Hip surface replacement is NOT the same as minimally invasive surgery. It actually requires a larger incision to get full access to all the structures that have to be replaced.
- Hip surface replacement is only meant for a select group of patients. Only your surgeon can determine whether this procedure is right for you. The ideal patient is usually thin and younger than the typical hip replacement patient.
- The top image on this page is from Stryker's website (an orthopaedic implant company). Click here to get more information about the hip surface replacement used by Dr. Hoerner.
- The bottom image is an example of a traditional hip replacement from Zimmer (an orthopaedic implant company). Click here to get more information about the total hip replacment used by Dr. Hoerner.
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