Hip prosthesis, an individualized intervention

Hip replacement is a procedure that is being performed more and more often, due to the increasing age of the population and the reasonable demand for quality of life by patients. This improvement responds to the fact that patients of a certain age still have a very active life that they do not want to be limited by joint pain.

It is an artificial substitute for a hip that the patient has worn out, since this wear and tear is causing pain and functional limitation. The most suitable component for each patient will depend on the type of hip and according to the problem he/she suffers from.

Parts of the prosthesis

The parts of a basic hip prosthesis are the stem, the neck of the stem (portion that is anchored to the femur), the head and cup (the cup that is anchored to the pelvis) and the head (of variable composition). The metal parts of the prosthesis are metal alloys, compatible with human beings and resistant.

Placement of a prosthesis

There are two indispensable conditions to perform the operation for the placement of a hip prosthesis. One must be that the arthritic hip, worn out, involves pain for the patient and two, that it leads to a functional limitation. These conditions are much more important than the degree of osteoarthritis and deformity of the patient.

The idea is to implant the prosthesis in patients who need it because of their severe symptoms, individualize each implant to be the best for that patient, and then take care of the prosthesis so that it lasts for many years, following the indications of your surgeon. The first months are more important than it seems for the implant to survive for life.

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Implantation of the prosthesis

The patient, once the surgery is performed, will remain hospitalized for 4 to 6 days. This is performed under regional anesthesia, from the waist down, and light sedation, so that the patient does not feel pain or discomfort during surgery. The procedure consists of the placement of the component of the pelvis, the cup, by means of 2 screws at the bottom of the cup, which ensures greater stability and prevents the component from rotating. The stem is then inserted and the size and position of the femoral neck and head are calculated.

Once the operation has been performed, the first few days are the most painful, and the thigh may swell. The patient must remain on his back at night, with his legs apart and without crossing them for 1 to 2 months. The recovery process is achieved once the patient assumes the prosthesis as his own and begins to forget about it.