Complications of Hip Surgery in the Elderly

Hip surgery is a "last-resort" surgery when all other treatments, including the use of medication, have failed. Those who are candidates for this type of surgery have been experiencing stiffness, loss of motion, and severe pain that is caused by osteoarthritis or rheumatoid arthritis in the hip joint. In older people, complications caused by this type of surgery are at the heart of the reason why doctors only operate when absolutely necessary.

Is Hip Surgery Necessary?

• Hip-replacement surgery is done across the United States more than 190,000 times a year, and the success rate is high. In the more severe cases, hip surgery may be necessitated due to tumors, avascular necrosis (loss of blood supply to the bone), or hip fractures. One of the reasons why doctors try to avoid operating on older people in general is because the recovery time typically takes longer and carries more risks and complications than in younger people, who are more resilient and tend to "bounce back" faster.

Total Hip Arthroplasty (Replacement)

• Total hip arthroplasty is a surgical procedure that replaces diseased hip bone and cartilage with artificial materials made to resemble the removed ball and socket joint of the hip. The pelvic bone in the hip region is called, acetabulum. The socket joint is surgically removed, and the top of the thigh bone, the femur, has a metal ball and stem inserted into it, then it is capped with a plastic cup socket.

Complications of Hip-Replacement Surgery

• Risks of total hip-replacement surgery can include the usual risks associated with giving anesthesia, including irregular heartbeat, toxic-liver syndrome, and pneumonia. Risks can also include lower extremity blood clots that can travel, causing what is called a pulmonary embolism. These embolisms can cause respiratory failure and sudden shock to the body, both of which are potentially fatal. The surgery patient may also have issues with urination, skin or joint infections, fracturing of other bones during and after surgery, limited motion in the hip, scar tissue, and possible prosthesis failure.

What Is a Prosthesis?

• The whole inner workings of the artificial replacement surgery as shown above are referred to as prostheses. These prosthesis materials are cemented into place with a substance called methyl methacrylate; or a cementless prosthesis can be substituted, which uses microscopic pores to allow bone ingrowth from the normal femur.

Be on the Lookout

• If you have an older loved one who lives alone, keep in mind that accidents, slips, falls, and the hip just suddenly "giving out" can happen at any time. Take a moment to call to check on or look in on him or her daily. Sometimes, older people fall and lay on the floor for days before they are discovered. By then, they are in worse condition than they would have been from just the fall alone because they have been unable to eat, go to the bathroom, get water, or move at all. A quick check-in every day only takes a few moments of your time.