Hip resurfacing

Hip resurfacing is the replacement of the articular surface with thin metal shells on both the head and the socket sides of the joint. This restores the hip to near the patients original anatomy, with femoral bone preservation as compared to a long stemmed femoral component in total hip replacement.

A metal resurfacing of the femoral head, in conjunction with a metal socket, is used to provide an alternative solution to a total hip replacement (THR). The combination is extremely hard wearing and yet gives the patient a good range of motion with quick recovery times. Most patients go back to driving a car 3 to 4 weeks after surgery and are back at work by 6 weeks or less. Patients' who have had congenital hip dysplasia (CDH), Perthes' disease of hip and avascular necrosis (AVN) are potentially complex hip resurfacing cases. However they may still sometimes be performed with the usage of either standard components or specialist components eg the dysplasia shell. In Bath, hip surface replacement has been performed since 1999, with over 550 cases having been followed up with the database showing a survival of 98% after 8 years.

• An X-ray showing a pelvis and severe arthritis of both hips.
• An X-ray now showing Bilateral hip resurfacing having now been performed resulting in pain free function.
• X-ray of a pelvis with dysplastic mal-formed left hip and arthritis of both hips.
• X-ray after right hip resurfacing and left hip replacement with dysplasia cup and uncemented stem, large diameter metal surface.

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