Conditions that may lead to a hip replacement:

• Arthritis (osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, septic arthritis and post-traumatic arthritis)
• Osteonecrosis (the death of bone caused by insufficient blood supply)
• Congenital dislocation of the hip
• Malalignment of the leg
• An injury, fracture, or bone tumor that has caused the breakdown of the hip joint

Americans are living longer and are more active than ever before. Unfortunately, the longer we live, the greater our risk for arthritis and injuries to our joints. If you have hip pain that is keeping you from doing simple things like climbing stairs, walking the dog or grocery shopping – if it’s preventing you from living your life, and medication and more conservative treatments just aren’t cutting it – you might be a candidate for hip replacement surgery.

Our team will take the time to listen to your concerns and will help you choose from a variety of treatment options. If initial treatment methods do not provide relief, and our diagnostic tools show destruction of the joint, your orthopedist may recommend total hip replacement. The good news is hip replacements today can last twenty to thirty years and they are a lot less painful.

At Ochsner, we offer all surgical approaches for total hip replacements including anterior (from the front), posterior (from the back), and lateral (from the side). Treatment options also include minimally invasive hip resurfacing, a bone-sparing procedure used for very active patients with arthritis of the hip.

In the old days, it would’ve been unheard of to have a patient who just had a hip replacement up and walking within the first 24 hours, but thanks to improvements in anesthesia, it happens here all the time.

The majority of our hip replacement patients are given an epidural, “conscious sedation,” similar to what women are given when they have a baby. Patients don’t feel the pain but are able to move sooner which makes healing easier and less painful down the road.

Prior to your total joint replacement, you will attend a Total Joint Replacement Class. This class is a 2-hour seminar taught by a Physical Therapist, an Occupational Therapist, a Nurse and a Social Worker to instruct patients and their families on the expectations for Total Joint Replacement. This is designed to introduce you to all the people who will be active in your care.

Topics covered include:

• Total Hip Replacement Education
• Total Knee Replacement Education
• Family Training
• Self-Care Education
• Nursing Care
• Pain Management
• Discharge Planning
• PT/OT Therapy & Wellness
• Home Health