Hip replacement surgery is common. In the 1960s, Sir John Charnley, a British surgeon, perfected the hip replacement that is still in use today. Medical technology makes hip replacements fairly safe, but there is still the potential for infection. Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, an affiliate of Harvard Medical Center, estimates that 234,000 hip replacements are performed annually.
Bacteria
Bacteria is ordinarily destroyed immediately by our immune system, but a surgery such as a hip replacement complicates the body's normal response because our immune system cannot fight against bacteria that live on implants. Typically, these implants are made from titanium, cobalt chrome, plastic or ceramic. Left unchecked, infection resulting from a hip replacement can wreak havoc on the body.
Late Infections
On rare occasions, an infection in the hip area can occur one or more years after surgery. Generally, the infection is attributed to something other than the hip replacement, such as throat infection or cavities in teeth. Nonetheless it could lead to removal of the joint. Dr. E. Malcolm Downes, who has written about the issue in The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, suggests that any potential infection be thoroughly treated before hip replacement to prevent a long-term problem.
Chronic Illness
There is evidence that chronic illnesses may affect the number and severity of complications an individual experiences following hip replacement surgery. If a patient is suffering from a chronic illness such as diabetes or rheumatoid arthritis there is a higher potential for an infection to develop.
Blood Clots
Although not an infection, blood clots are a serious, yet common, complication related to hip replacement. Typically a physician will prescribe various blood thinning or clot-destroying drugs, and the patient may be required to wear support hosiery for a period of time.
Rate
Less than 2 percent of patients develop an infection after hip replacement, and in the worst case scenario the first implant would have to be removed and replaced with a new one. Because the materials used are not native to the human body, treatments such as antibiotics are not always 100 percent effective.
Prevention/Solution
Preventing infections from surgery begins beforehand in the form of ingesting preoperative antibiotics. Patients are strongly encouraged to take antibiotics before dental work or any other operation in an effort to minimize the possibility of suffering from an infection during or after surgery. Once a hip replacement patient is diagnosed with an infection, a rigorous form of treatment should be prescribed.
Tags: potential infection, after surgery, immune system, replacement surgery, suffering from