Hip Stems

The hip is essentially a ball and socket joint, linking the "ball" at the head of the thigh bone (femur) with the cup-shaped "socket" in the pelvic bone. A total hip prosthesis is surgically implanted to replace the damaged bone within the hip joint.

The total hip prosthesis consists of three parts:

• A cup that replaces your hip socket. The cup is usually plastic, although some centers are trying other materials like ceramic and metal.
• A metal or ceramic ball that will replace the fractured head of the femur.
• A metal stem that is attached to the shaft of the bone to add stability to the prosthesis. If the surgery is a "hemi-arthroplasty," the only bone replaced with a prosthetic device is the head of the femur.

Indications

Hip joint replacement is primarily done in people age 60 and older. The operation is usually not recommended for younger people because of the strain they can put on the artificial hip, causing it to fail prematurely.

The reasons for replacing the hip joint include:

• Severe pain from arthritis in the hip that limits an individuals' ability to do the things they want to do
• Fractures in the elderly of the neck of the femur (usually requires a hemi-arthroplasty)
• Hip joint tumors

This surgery is usually not recommended for:

• Very young patients
• Current hip infection
• People with poor skin coverage around the hip
• Paralyzed quadriceps muscles
• Nerve disease affecting the hip
• Patients with severely limiting mental dysfunction Serious physical disease (terminal disease, such as metastatic cancer)
• Extreme obesity (weight over 300 pounds)