How a Surgeon Prepares

Once your x-rays are reviewed by your surgeon, various treatments will be discussed with you, based on your health and lifestyle. Hip replacement surgery is usually recommended when all other treatment options have not provided you with sufficient relief from the pain you are suffering. Surgery should relieve the pain, making walking and bending easier for you.

A member of your doctor's office staff will schedule your surgery day and time, but you may want to check with your insurance provider to see which hospital or surgical centers your insurance covers.

Next you will be scheduled for a history and physical by your family medical doctor.

The orthopaedic surgeon will look at your x-rays again, after you leave, to decide which design of prosthesis is best for you. This is when they measure or template the x-rays. The hip manufacturer will be phoned and they will send all of the appropriate equipment. On the day of surgery or day before, your surgeon will go over the list of his surgeries to see if there is anything needed.

The manufacturer's independent distributor will order the equipment the day before and a surgical technician will confirm that the equipment has arrived prior to the start of your surgery. The surgical instruments are checked by the hospital staff and are prepared by the surgery technician to ensure the sterility of the surgical field.

Your surgical team will make every effort to make sure everything is ready by the time of your schedule surgery. All equipment can be made available to every hospital. Every facility has the ability to do the same surgeries, no matter how small the hospital is, or how rural they are.