Hip prosthesis
Written by:The candidate for a hip prosthesis is that patient with hip pain, due to a destruction of the articular cartilage thereof (which significantly affects their quality of life), which does not respond to conservative medical-surgical treatment and therefore both need a replacement for his injured hip.
Complications of a hip implant
The main complications that arise from a hip implant are, first, superficial or deep infections that can lead to loosening of the components of the prosthesis, the injury of vascular and / or nervous structures, instability of the prosthesis and, in some cases, fractures of the femur during the surgical act.
Place the prosthesis
Epidural anesthesia is usually used to carry out this procedure. The first step of the operation is to dissect the soft tissue structures until they reach the bone.
This is followed by cuts in the femur and milling or preparation of the medullary canal and preparation of the acetabulum. The femur and the acetabulum are the receiving surfaces of the respective prosthetic implants. Finally, the fixing is done, which can be cemented or not cemented.
At 24 hours postoperatively we started passive mobility, for example, sitting the patient in a high chair, and the progressive partial load of the operated extremity. In the case of non-cemented prostheses this load will be slower in the non-cemented ones.
Between 3 and 5 postoperative days the patient is discharged and can return home. Of course, you must follow a specific rehabilitation program .
Recommendations and advice
Patients with a hip prosthesis should be aware that it is a prosthetic joint, not the natural joint and, therefore, the average life of that prosthesis is closely related to the use and abuse we make of it in daily life.
When hip prostheses are placed on elderly patients, whose day-to-day activities are very conservative, it is easier to comply with the care required by such intervention..
On the other hand, in cases where the prosthesis is placed in a young person , it is when more complications can appear and, therefore, more precautions should be taken seriously.. It is convenient to walk, you can go up and down stairs, you can do bike and swim but always in moderation.
On the contrary, you should not practice sports that involve an impact to the hip (jumping, running, etc.) or manipulate weights, since all this would shorten its duration.
It is advisable to sit on high chairs, not perform extreme movements with the hip operated, (contortions), in order to avoid possible dislocations.
