Enhanced Recovery Total Hip Replacement
Use the below links to find answers to some common questions:
How quickly will I recover postoperative?
How quickly will I recover postoperative?
Most patients will be out of hospital in 2-5 days. Some even sooner! For some patients the hip replacement can be done with them going home the same day. The majority of patients have control of their car at 4-6 weeks and some leisurely sport can be started at 3 months.
By 6 to 9 months most patients will start to forget that they had an operation. The function will continue to improve and will reach the maximum at 1 year to 14 months. Most people will be able to take part in normal walking, playing bowls, golf and tennis. Most patients have no problems with doing gardening. Certain patients will be able to ski and run. Running is not recommended.
Mr Busch wrote a small article for a local private hospital about the topic of “Enhanced recovery“. This is a process by which each individual step in the joint replacement procedure is optimised so that the recovery following surgery can be as efficient and quick as possible.
What does enhanced recovery mean?
Over the last few years the recovery following total joint replacement, specifically total hip replacement, has been much improved. A combination of advancement in the anaesthetic techniques, perioperative pain relief, implant technology, surgical technique, rehabilitation programs and managing patient’s expectations, has led to the inpatient stay having become much shorter.
In fact, in some certain selected cases total joint replacement of the hip and knee can be performed as a day case. Day case total joint replacement is not for everybody, and is something that your surgeon will discuss with you and decide if you could be a good candidate, for a day case procedure.
Early mobilisation 4 hours after left total hip replacement
Bilateral simultaneous total hip replacement with enhanced recovery protocol.
What can I do with my hip replacement?
A replacement of any joint is not quite the same as your own original joint. It is however a very good second best! As the longevity of the joint replacement is almost completely dependent on the wear of the bearing surface it is logical to look after the replaced joint as much as possible. If we can compare a hip joint to a car engine we can speculate that if an engine has a million miles to run, a patient can drive all the miles available in just a few years, or by being a little more cautious, can have many years of trouble free motoring.
On the other hand we must not forget that the joint replacement is often performed in order to resume activities which the patient was unable to participate in, because of the arthritic joint became very symptomatic. Most activities can be performed by patients who have a joint replacement. Bearing in mind however that the longevity of a joint replacement depends on the rate of wear, the avoidance of dislocation and infection, any activity that the patient wishes to take part should be viewed within these confines.
Sports such as golf, tennis and skiing are possible with both hip and knee replacement. It is however worthwhile to take some simple actions to stop excessive wear of the replaced joint by perhaps taking a buggy whilst playing golf, to stay on the easier ski runs and to restrict the number of games of tennis played during the week!