Hip surgery

Having a hip replacement is a big decision in everyone’s life. We recommend that you consider three important factors when making your decision:

• What kind of prosthesis will be implanted in you? Today, there is a wide range of quality and price of prostheses available in even as wide a range as cars. We only work with the best prostheses available in Europe because in our opinion, the price difference of a few hundred thousand Forints is a profitable investment for our mobility.
• What method is used? At Emineo Private Hospital, we implant your hip prosthesis with one of the latest procedures. In our institution, we successfully use the most up-to-date anterior approach with muscle shift technique for hip replacement. In the traditional lateral approach method, which is performed in the majority of cases, muscles are cut in order to implant the prosthesis. However, with the anterior approach and muscle shift technique, the muscles remain intact resulting in a much faster rehabilitation (0 to 3 months). Of course, we need to use a special prosthesis for this procedure.
• Should only one or both hips be operated on? In a significant proportion of cases, the two hip joints wear out similarly and the amount of pain is almost the same in both hips. The above described surgical method with anterior approach allows the surgery of both hips at the same time as there is not much pain involved (moreover, the pre-existing pain also subside). Performing the two interventions at the same time is much more cost-effective, less burdensome for the body, and may restore the complaint-free condition sooner.

The surgery takes 1 or 2 hours and is performed under general anesthesia and/or spinal anesthesia. After surgery, varying amount of pain may occur usually for 1 or 2 days, depending on the patient. After the amount of pain medication is set, our physiotherapist visits the patient in the patient room and helps him/her stand up, and the patient is able to walk without pain as soon as 6 to 8 hours after surgery, in some cases even without any walking aids.  On the second day, a follow-up blood test is performed and in addition to conducting on-site exercises, our physiotherapist teaches the elements of physiotherapy to be performed at home. If everything is fine after 2 to 3 nights, the patient is discharged home from our inpatient ward.

To learn more about the symptoms of the disease and possible non-surgical treatments, click here.

What are the steps of aftercare?

After the operation, the patient usually moves around without help, and does not need to use crutches. It may be different for patients who waited for a very long time before choosing to have this surgery as their movements have long been restricted due to severe pain and their muscles have become very weak. Although the patients are able to take care of themselves at home even early after surgery, 1 month of physiotherapy is almost always essential for recovery, and for this, we recommend Emineo’s Department of Rehabilitation where physiotherapists are not only generally trained, but specially trained for all types of surgery performed at our Hospital. Only continuous and correct physiotherapy will support/ensure the improvement of range of motion and the return of muscle strength. Patients who are capable of work may even be able to drive car as soon as two weeks after the surgery.

But why is this good for the patient?

With the operation, the mobility is almost always greatly improved, our patients can often continue their previous sports and can live their daily lives and work without any substantial restrictions.