Patient/caregiver was instructed upon types of hip joint replacement surgery as follows:
Hip joint could be accessed during the hip replacement surgery through incision made anteriorly or posteriorly to the joint. Both the procedures have their own merits and demits.
Merits of anterior hip replacement:
- Hip joint could be accessed by moving the muscles out of the way in anterior approach and mostly the muscles need not be cut.
- Thus, an anterior approach usually involves less damage to the muscles, resulting in less blood loss. Consequently, an anterior hip replacement could be less painful.
- Also, as the damage is less, recovery could be quicker.
Demerits of anterior hip replacement:
- As the muscles are only moved out of the way, it could offer restricted view to the surgeon and so, the surgery could be challenging.
- Also, moving the muscles out of the way could be difficult with obese and very muscular individuals, thus making them poor candidates for the procedure.
Merits of posterior hip replacement:
- As the muscles are cut out of the way, it could offer better view to the surgeon and so, this could be preferred.
- Also, as muscles are cut out of the way in posterior hip replacement, it could be the procedure of choice for obese and very muscular individuals.
Demerits of posterior hip replacement:
- Hip joint could be accessed by cutting the muscles in the back of the hip in posterior approach.
- Thus, posterior approach could involve extensive damage to the muscles, resulting in more blood loss.
- Consequently, posterior hip replacement could be more painful. Also, as the damage is more, recovery could be longer.
