Failed Hip Replacement

At times, a hip replacement can fail for various reasons and may need to be revised. Some of the common reasons for failure are wear and/or loosening of the prosthetic components, infection, recurrent dislocation, bone loss around the prosthetic components, and muscular dysfunction due to limb length inequalities.

Below are before (left) and after (right) X-rays of a sixty-seven-year-old woman who was never happy with her initial hip replacement which was performed two years prior to her consultation. She had significant pain and had difficulty bearing weight. Her before (left) X-rays show a loose prosthesis in the socket with significant shortening of her thigh bone (limb length inequality) and extra bone formation around the joint (known as heterotopic ossification). All implants were completely removed and the hip was reconstructed with a new hip prosthesis. The excess bone was removed during the revision surgery.