Question
QUESTION: Hi
I was in a car wreck and ended up having- among other problems- the need for a total hip replacement. Blood had been cut off for too long and the bone deteriorated, and it was replaced 5 yrs after the wreck.

it has now been 13 yrs, and i'm beginning to have problems with it again. Is this the amount of time one can expect a hip to last, generally, given the age at which it was replaced?

thanks!

ANSWER: Hi Lesley

You had a nice long life of the replacement if it lasted for 13 years.  That is about the same amount of time my first one lasted.  I had my first replacement at 16 and it lasted until I was 29.

If you have revision surgery, chances are good that the revision would not last as long as the original hip.  But that being said, my latest revisions are about 10 years old now, and show no signs of wearing out soon.

The thing you have to remember with revision surgery, is that not all orthopedists are qualified to do revisions.  The revision surgery is more complicated than the initial hip replacements and you need to make sure that your doctor is qualified to do revision surgery.

Find out how many revision surgeries your doctor does, and how often he does that surgery.  Sometimes revisions need bone grafting, or different appliances have to be put to replace the worn out parts.  

Best of luck to you.

Sharon


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: thanks for your prompt reply!

One further question- what is 'revision surgery'? or does it depend on what is going wrong with the hip?

thanks!

Answer
Revision surgery is performed when the original hip has worn out and needs to be updated.  Most times, parts of the original hip can be replaced without removing the full prosthesis.  For instance, if the linter of the cup has worn out, they can just snap in a new liner.

If by chance there are inherent problems with the hip, it may be that the full hip replacement has to be taken out and a new one put in.  In that case, (and I had that done on one of my revisions), the recuperation is longer.

Depending on what needs to be revised in your hip, that will determine how involved the surgery will be.  

In general, revison surgery is more involved for the surgeon, although you as a patient won't feel a thing different.

Hope this answers your questions.

sharon