What is total hip replacement?
Total hip replacement surgery means replacing the painful parts of the damaged hip with an artificial part called a prosthesis. According to the Centers for Disease Control, some 200,000 artificial hip joints are implanted annually in the United States; the success rate is greater than 90 percent.
A total hip replacement is an operation that removes the arthritic ball of the upper femur (thigh bone) as well as damaged bone and cartilage from the hip socket. The ball is replaced with at metal ball that is fixed solidly inside the femur. The socket is replaced with a plastic or metal liner that is usually fixed inside a metal shell to create a smoothly functioning joint.
