Question

what are the disadvantages of having a hip replacement?

Answer 1

Answer:

Potential Disadvantages of Anterior Hip Replacement

✔Obese or very muscular people may not be good candidates.

✔It is a technically demanding surgery.

✔There is potential for nerve damage.

✔There may be wound healing issues.

Answer 2

Answer:

Potential Disadvantages of Anterior Hip Replacement

Anterior hip replacement does have a few limitations. These limitations include:

Obese or very muscular people may not be good candidates. Depending on the surgeon's experience, this surgery may not be appropriate for obese or very muscular patients, because the additional soft tissue can make it difficult for the surgeon to access the hip joint.

It is a technically demanding surgery. Surgeons face a steep learning curve for this procedure. The anterior incision provides a restricted view of the hip joint, making it a technically demanding procedure.

See Total Hip Replacement Surgical Procedure

There is potential for nerve damage. There is a potential risk of nerve injury with any type of hip replacement approach. In anterior hip replacement, the surgical area is located near the lateral cutaneous femoral nerve, which runs down the front of the pelvis and past the hip to supply sensation to the outer thigh (it does not affect muscle control). Following anterior hip replacement surgery, there is potential for numbness in the thigh, and, in rare cases, a painful irritation of the skin supplied by that nerve, known as meralgia paresthetica. This condition is rare and happens in less than 1% of patients.4

While research is limited, many studies seem to suggest that the risk of damage to the major nerves near the hip, in particular the sciatic nerve, is lower with the anterior approach than with the traditional approaches.5,6,7 This is because the sciatic nerve runs behind the hip joint, so it is not exposed when using the anterior approach.

See Total Hip Replacement Surgery Risks and Complications

There may be wound healing issues. Surgeons who routinely perform the anterior approach recognize that the surgical incisions can get irritated, especially in very large patients or patients with large amount of abdominal fat, because that area can take longer to heal.

For example, one study identified surgical wound complications (e.g. infection where the surgical incision was made) in 1.4% of patients who had undergone anterior hip replacement and 0.2% of patients who had undergone posterior hip replacement.8 However, these wound-healing issues are usually mild and self-limiting, meaning they typically resolve over time even without medical treatment. To date, there is no evidence to suggest that either approach has a higher or lower incidence of hip joint infection, which is a much more serious issue than incision healing delay.