Patient/caregiver was instructed upon findings to watch for and report to the physician after hip replacement surgery as follows:
Signs and symptoms of infection:
- After hip replacement surgery, patients and caregivers must keep a close watch for any signs and symptoms of evolving infection, such as, fever, foul smelling drainage from the surgical site, progressively increasing pain and swelling of the joint.
- During the immediate post-surgical phase, while you were in the hospital, your doctor could keep you on antibiotics to prevent infection.
- Your doctor could also send you home or call into your pharmacy for a course of antibiotics, if need be. So, report to your physician immediately regarding any signs and symptoms of infection.
Uncontrolled pain and swelling:
- Pain and swelling in the surgical limb should progressively decline over 2 – 3 weeks after the surgery.
- Compliance with medications for pain control and therapy recommendations should add to the improvement in pain control.
- Uncontrolled pain and swelling in the limb, despite compliance with pain medication and therapy recommendations, can indicate an underlying serious complication like infection.
- Patients and caregivers must keep a close watch for poorly controlled or progressively worsening pain and swelling in the surgical joint and report to the physician for further management measures.
Progressively increasing rigidity in the joint:
- Range of motion in the joint should progressively improve over 3 – 6 months after the surgery.
- Compliance with the therapy recommendations is very essential towards meeting this goal.
- Any rigidity in the surgical joint, despite compliance with therapy recommendations must be reported to the physician for further investigation.
