Good for the elderly
After hip replacement surgery, a senior may be anxious to get back to their normal routine. Recovery time can be quick for some as a movement after the surgery occurs in as little as two days . Most patients are fully recovered in as little as one to six months .
You should not bend your hip beyond 60 to 90 degrees for the first six to 12 weeks after surgery . Do not cross your legs or ankles, either. It’s best to avoid bending to pick things up during this period.
During surgery to fix a fractured hip , your doctor will make one or two cuts (incisions) over the broken bone in your hip . The pieces of bone are moved back into the right position, then held in place using metal pins, screws, nails, rods, or plates.
Generally speaking, joint replacements are performed on patients between 60 and 80 years of age, and most are women. But those older or younger are not automatically precluded.
Several factors can contribute to death after a hip fracture . These range from issues that led to the fall, such as cardiovascular, pulmonary, or neurological issues, to post-surgical complications like infections and pulmonary embolism.
Make sure you’re drinking plenty of fluids — lots of water — and eating foods with fiber, like vegetables and beans. Feel free to use a stool softener, too. Any over-the-counter product will do. Also, remember that there’s no set rule for how many bowel movements you should be having.
Hip replacement patients are given a long list of things not to do — do not bend the hips or knees further than 90 degrees, do not cross the legs, do not lift the leg to put on socks, and much more. These movement restrictions protect the new hip from dislocation.
In the beginning, walk for 5 or 10 minutes, 3 or 4 times a day. As your strength and endurance improve, you can walk for 20 to 30 minutes, 2 or 3 times a day. Once you have fully recovered, regular walks of 20 to 30 minutes, 3 or 4 times a week, will help maintain your strength.
Make sure you continue sleeping with the pillow between your legs for at least six weeks.
Some reports show that up to 50 % of patients with hip fracture die within six months and many of those who survive do not recover their baseline independence and function. In recent decades the increase in life expectancy after 60 years of age has led to an exponential growth in hip fractures.
The average hospital stay for a hip fracture in the U.S. is 6.3 days. In Sweden the average stay is more than 11 days.
In usual care, the reported 1-year mortality after sustaining a hip fracture has been estimated to be 14% to 58% (Table 1). The relative risk of mortality in the elderly patient population increases 4% per year. The first year after a hip fracture appears to be the most critical time.
While most hip replacements are performed in patients between 60 and 80 years of age , older or younger age is not a contraindication to surgery. Hip replacement is occasionally performed in patients in their teens and early twenties.
If the patient is reasonably active and healthy – there’s no age limit. This fact is the beauty of hip replacement surgery . People of all ages can get moving again with a hip replacement .
Hip revision operations are performed relatively infrequently. In the United States, there are approximately 18 revision hip replacements performed for every 100 hip replacements. (1) The most common reasons for revision are: Repetitive (recurrent) dislocation of a hip replacement .