Questions about total hip replacement
The hospital stay is 2 to 3 days, but the operation is increasingly performed on an outpatient basis.
In this case, care is organized as soon as you return home at 6 p.m. with a nursing follow-up managed by specialized companies, which ensures better safety for the patient.
Anesthesia for total hip replacement surgery is general or locoregional.
An injection of local anesthetics is performed by the surgeon at the operative site to improve postoperative analgesia
Returning home is possible, provided the patient’s family can take care of him. Otherwise, hospitalization in a rehabilitation center for a few weeks is a better option.
We use a cell-saver during surgery, and erythropoietin is administered prior to the procedure for patients with low hemoglobin levels, which usually prevents the need for a blood transfusion.
Getting up is possible the following day. Walking with a crutch is permitted. Crutches will usually no longer be needed 2 weeks after surgery when using minimally invasive surgical techniques. Depending on individual progress, car driving is possible 3 weeks following surgery.
Complications, such as a bone cracks and vascular/nervous damage, may occur during surgery. These complications, however, are very uncommon.
After surgery, the patient may suffer from phlebitis, which has to be diagnosed and treated; in exceptional cases, pulmonary embolism may occur. Urine retention is possible if local anesthesia has been applied, especially in male patients. An early or late postoperative infection requires proper treatment. Dislocation of the prosthesis may be encountered during high-risk movements, which must be clearly explained to the patient so that he avoids these movements during the first 3 months after the intervention.
The prosthesis’s average lifetime is 15 years.
