Surgical procedures are the last line of treatment and are carried out when all other ways of rehabilitation including treatment with medications and physical therapy fail to improve the condition.

Joint replacement surgery is often the last refuge treatment for relieving an injured or damaged joint. Joint replacement surgery can be performed on various joints of the body, such as, the ankle, wrist, hip, knee, shoulder, and elbow. Among them, hip and knee joint replacements are performed most commonly.

Total hip replacement is a surgical way of replacing the hip joint which constitutes a ball and socket joint. It is majorly performed in cases where the ball and socket joint has almost lost cartilage. In this procedure, the surgeon resurfaces the bones of the joints, and then places an artificial ball and socket into healthy bone.

In most of the people, a total hip replacement is triggered by arthritis. A hip replacement is recommended when it becomes impossible for the person to bear the joint pain, and perform even the simple tasks of daily living due to intervention caused by the damaged hip.

Knee replacement surgery is executed to treat arthritis in it’s advanced or end-stage. The need for knee replacement surgery arises when the smooth, white tissue assisting in the easy movement of bones, known as the articular cartilage gets damaged severely. This may cause deformities such as, the bow-legged deformities (knock-knee) and unusual knee sounds (crepitus) as the deterioration gets worse.

This leads to excessive pain and restricted or no movement. It can’t be cured with medications alone and in this case, knee replacement is the only treatment to eliminate the pain.

Knee replacement surgery is targeted at replacing this damaged cartilage, along with compensating any loss of bone configuration or ligament support.

The material used for knee replacement is similar to that used for hip replacements. The replacement joint, known as prosthesis, constitutes titanium, stainless steel, cobalt chrome, ceramic material, and plastic. Prosthesis can either be directly attached to the bone with acrylic cement or it can be press-fit into the bone, thereby acting as an implant for it to grow. Once the artificial joint is in place, the patient is given physical therapy to regain movement.

Joint replacement surgery is performed in a hospital and it usually lasts for a few hours. The pace of recovery and rehabilitation differs from person to person. Exercise is a significant part of the recovery process.

Experiencing some post-surgery pain in the replaced joint is common due to weakening of the surrounding muscles. This condition improves day by day as the body adjusts to the new joint, accompanied by tissue healing.

Metro Hospital is one of the India's leading multi-speciality hospitals and is well known for joint replacement surgeries. A team of highly trained orthopaedic surgeons and physical therapists at our hospital aims at providing the best treatment and rehabilitation therapy for a string of musculo-skeletal problems.