Patient: Description of condition (onset, main symptoms, hospital visited, etc.): The patient is a 57-year-old male who has been feeling pain in both legs since February 2009, and now it is getting worse, and he is walking with a limp and using a cane to help him walk. The patient used to drink a lot of highly alcoholic beverages, and often used some ointments (containing hormones) for skin rashes. He has high blood pressure and is taking antihypertensive medication every day. He had an X-ray in January 010 and thought it was a herniated lumbar disc compressing a nerve, so he did three cycles of traction at home (3 weeks each) with no significant improvement. What should I do to treat this condition? I see that there are several types of surgery, including total replacement and retrofitting, but I don’t understand the terminology. Do I have to have surgery? If so, which one should I use? How long will the surgery take and how long will I have to stay in the hospital? Is the incision large? How long will the recovery time be? Will there be any complications after surgery? It seems that there are different artificial joints, is the best artificial joint nowadays ceramic? What is the approximate cost of all together? Doctor: According to your description of the clinical data, your father has advanced ischemic necrosis of the femoral head (stage 3 or more), and the femoral head has collapsed. Artificial total hip arthroplasty can be performed. The surgery requires half a month of hospitalization and about one hour on one side of the surgery time. A minimally invasive incision with a wound of less than 10 cm can reduce bleeding, hospitalization time and wound recovery. It is best to use a biologic ceramic-to-ceramic prosthesis. The surgical technique is very mature. There are risks associated with the surgery and the overall risk is less than 2%. Please come to the clinic for further consultation and treatment. Patient: I have seen secondary surgeries due to short life span of the prosthesis, what is the approximate life span if I use bio-type ceramic to ceramic prosthesis? Approximately how much will the prosthesis cost? If the surgery is performed, will it be possible to return to normal joint use? How soon can I go down after the surgery? Do I need to come back to the hospital for a review afterwards? My father has high blood pressure, will this affect the surgery? How much will it cost? What is the cost? Doctor: The outcome of arthroplasty depends on three major factors: the patient’s condition; the surgeon’s skill; and the prosthesis and technical support factors. The sum of the three factors constitutes the final result. For the same patient, the surgeon and prosthesis technical factors are more important. The vast majority (85%) of artificial joint replacements last more than 20 years after surgery. In other words, a little more than 10 percent of patients will last less than 20 years. After 3-5 days of surgery, the patient will be able to walk on the ground with a crutch and return to normal weight bearing after three months. The total cost of one side of the surgery will be 50-60,000 yuan. I wish your father a speedy recovery.