Hip Replacement Specialist

You could need a hip replacement after a severe hip fracture or if you develop a condition called avascular necrosis, which destroys the bone.

Advanced arthritis is the most frequent reason people get a hip replacement, and osteoarthritis is the most common type of arthritis. This progressive disease develops as the cartilage in your joints starts to break down.

Cartilage covers the bones inside the joint, allowing them to glide smoothly when you move. Daily wear-and-tear makes the cartilage break down and disappear. Then the bones rub together, causing pain, inflammation, and bone damage.

Advanced arthritis leads to significant joint damage and pain that limits your daily activities, persists when you rest, and doesn’t improve with medications or physical therapy. At this stage, your only treatment choice is a hip replacement.

During your surgery, your Orthopaedic Institute of Henderson provider first removes the rounded ball at the top of your leg bone. They place a prosthetic stem into the center of your upper leg bone and attach a metal or ceramic prosthetic ball to the stem.

The second step focuses on the socket in the pelvis where the ball connects. Your provider cleans away damaged tissues and reshapes the bone in the socket. Then they implant a metal shell and place a cup-shaped liner in the socket.

For the final step, they place the new ball into the socket. After ensuring your leg moves correctly with its new hip, they close the incision.

The Orthopaedic Institute of Henderson does anterior or posterior hip replacements:

Anterior approach

When your provider chooses the anterior approach, they make the incision in the front of your hip. This surgery is more technically challenging. It requires those exceptional skills possessed by the team at the Orthopaedic Institute of Henderson.

The anterior approach requires a much smaller incision. Your provider moves the muscles out of the way rather than cutting through them. This means you recover faster, have less pain after surgery, and have less risk of a hip dislocation after surgery. Despite these advantages, not everyone is a candidate for the anterior hip replacement procedure.

Posterior approach

Your provider performs the traditional posterior approach by making the incision behind your hip. This procedure requires an incision that’s usually longer than the anterior approach, and the surgeons must cut through the muscle.