, says Jay Patel, MD, a joint replacement surgeon with Hoag Orthopedic Institute in Southern California. A socket reconstruction is done by putting a metal shell on the bone and locking a liner to the shell, Dr. Patel says. The ball is reconstructed by fixing a stem into the femur and attaching a new ball to the stem.
Hip resurfacing surgery, which Roker is having, removes less bone than a standard hip replacement, says, an orthopedic surgeon at Baltimore’s Mercy Medical Center. Instead of taking out the ball, a metal cap is put on the area where the cartilage has worn off. “It’s typically seen in patients under 55,” Dr. Littleton says. “It’s bone-sparing so that if you need another surgery later, you haven’t lost a lot.”Comfort is a big one.
Everyone recovers differently from surgery, but most hip replacement patients are usually discharged and walking the same day of surgery “or after a short stay in a surgery center or hospital,” Dr. Patel says.Timothy Gibson, MD , an orthopedic surgeon and medical director of the MemorialCare Joint Replacement Center at Orange Coast Medical Center in Fountain Valley, Calif. People who undergo hip resurfacing generally will be on crutches for four weeks afterward, while some people who have a hip replacement are walking without crutches or a cane in two weeks, Dr. Gibson says. Patients might also need to do some form of physical therapy to help get back their strength and balance.
Overall, doctors say this is a pretty good surgery to have if your hip just isn’t what it used to be. “It’s one of the top surgeries performed to improve somebody’s quality of life,” Dr. Ciotola says.
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