A good understanding of what can and cannot be achieved with total hip replacement is an important factor in deciding whether or not to undergo arthroplasty. Approximately 90 percent or more of patients who have a total hip replacement experience significant improvement in their symptoms; a significant reduction in hip pain and a significant improvement in their ability to perform daily activities. However, you should never engage in more strenuous exercise after a total hip replacement than you did before surgery, and your doctor may also advise you to avoid jogging, jumping, and other high-impact sports in the future. The plastic spacers in your hip joint will wear to some degree during normal use, and excessive weight bearing and activity will increase this wear and tear, causing loosening and pain in the replacement hip joint. Generally speaking, as long as it is used reasonably, the life span of an artificial hip joint can reach many years. 1. Pre-operative preparation 1. Physical examination: If you decide to have a total hip replacement, your health care provider will conduct a thorough physical examination to understand your health condition and to rule out other diseases that may affect the surgery. 2.Laboratory tests: Some laboratory tests such as routine blood, urine, electrocardiogram and X-ray will be helpful when your orthopedic surgeon is planning the surgery. 3. Skin preparation: You should not have any infection or dermatitis on the skin of your entire lower extremity before the surgery. If any of these conditions exist, contact your orthopedic surgeon as soon as possible and make a plan to improve the condition of your skin. 4.Reserve autologous blood: Your doctor may collect some of your blood before the surgery to reserve it for return transfusion if needed after the surgery. 5. Medication preparation: Tell your doctor what medications you are taking, and he or she will tell you which ones you should continue to take before surgery and which ones you should not take. 6. Dental examination: Although the chance of infection after a total hip replacement is low, the possibility of infection can occur if bacteria enter the bloodstream. Because of the possibility of bacteria entering the bloodstream when dental treatment is performed, it is important to take into account if some dental treatment was performed before surgery, such as tooth extraction or scaling, when the hip replacement is performed. Routine dental cleaning should be postponed for a few weeks after the operation. 7. Urinary tract examination: For patients who have suffered from urinary tract infection, a detailed urinary tract examination should be performed before the total hip replacement. For elderly people with prostatic hypertrophy, a formal urinary tract examination and treatment must be performed before total hip replacement. 8. Community arrangements: Although you will be able to move around with the help of crutches or a walker soon after hip replacement, you will still need help with household chores such as laundry, cooking, grocery shopping, bathing and so on. So if you are living alone, your surgeon or community worker or the person who arranged for your discharge will help you arrange for someone to help you at home in advance. They may also let you stay at the rehabilitation center for a while if needed. You may be admitted to the hospital a few days before the surgery to make the necessary preparations. The anesthesiologist will examine you on the day of the surgery and then decide what type of anesthesia you need based on your condition. The common anesthesia methods are general anesthesia and epidural anesthesia. After general anesthesia, you will be asleep from the beginning to the end of the surgery; while in epidural anesthesia, only your lower limbs will be anesthetized and you will always be awake. Your orthopedic surgeon will remove the diseased bone and cartilage and place metal and plastic prostheses to restore the strength of your lower limb and the function of your hip joint. There are many types of designs and materials used in today’s total hip replacements, but generally they consist of two parts, a high-smooth metal femoral head prosthesis and a wear-resistant plastic acetabular prosthesis, which may also be encased in a metal shell. There is also a special surgical cement called bone cement that fills the space between the prosthesis and the bone to hold the prosthesis in place. After the surgery you will be kept in the observation room for one to two hours until you are fully awake from the anesthesia and then you will be returned to your room. IV. Hospitalization You will also need to stay in the hospital for a period of time after the surgery. It is very important for your recovery to do functional exercises for your hip as early as possible after surgery. Of course you will feel pain in the incision, and your doctor will prescribe you some medicine to relieve your pain. To prevent lung infections after surgery, you should breathe deeply and cough often. Your surgeon will use measures such as placing drains, compression bandages on the lower extremities and using anticoagulants to prevent swelling and blood clots in the lower extremities. Your surgeon will also use a CPM machine to perform functional hip exercises, which will be very beneficial to the recovery of your lower extremities and hip joint after surgery. The CPM machine will improve your blood circulation by elevating your lower extremities and exercising the muscles of your lower extremities to reduce lower extremity edema and prevent thrombosis. You should perform foot and ankle activities right after surgery, which will improve circulation by exercising the calf muscles, thereby reducing lower extremity edema and preventing thrombosis. The doctor usually teaches you how to exercise the muscles of the lower limbs and how to move the hip joint before or the day after surgery so that you can resume walking and daily activities as soon as possible.