What is a Total Hip Replacement?

A total hip replacement is a surgical procedure, which removes the disease hip and replaces it with a man made hip call a hip prosthesis. This hip prosthesis enables you to walk and do most of the activities you enjoy without pain or stiffness. A normal hip is made up of two boney structures, a round femoral head and a socket call acetabulum. It works as a ball and socket joint (fig. 1). The surface of the femoral head and acetabulum is covered with a smooth glistening white tissue call hyaline cartilage. Between the surfaces of the femoral head and the acetabulum is a joint lubricant call synovial fluid. The smooth hyaline cartilage surface and the synovial fluid facilitate near frictionless gliding of the femoral head in the acetabulum. It is the wearing away of this hyaline cartilage that causes pain, stiffness, and shortening of the limb. Arthritis and trauma are the two most common causes of hyaline cartilage wear. A Total hip replacement replaces the femoral head and the acetabulum with a space age metallic alloy, and the hyaline cartilage is replaced with a smooth, near frictionless, and durable surface. This surface interface can be metal on plastic, metal on metal, or ceramic on ceramic. In the near future, a diamond on diamond surface may be available.