Healthy Life

Are you planning to go for hip replacement surgery? If yes, you need to know what hip replacement infection is and how can you avoid it. Although hip replacement surgery improves your health condition by reducing pain in the hip and restoring the ability to perform routine activities, Hip Replacement Infection if caused can lead to serious problems. However, according to the

research there is only 0.5% chance of infection after surgery and therefore, it is not impossible to avoid hip replacement infection.

Hip replacement infection is caused by bacteria which enter our body through wounds or any other mode of entrance in the blood. Bacteria might also be present on the implant itself which worsens the condition and causes infection. Our immune system when functioning properly can kill bacteria in the blood but not the ones on the implant. Moreover, a faulty defense mechanism cannot prevent bacteria from causing an infection. Hip replacement infection can therefore be caused by a number of reasons like:

• Immune deficiencies
• Infection in any other part of the body
• Diabetes
• Obesity
• Dental work

Hip replacement infection if caused can lead to severe consequences like pain in the hip and the spread of infection to the nearby joints. The condition can be cured by giving antibiotics to the patients however, it is very important to know which antibiotics should be administered as there are different antibiotics for different types of bacteria. For this purpose we will first need to know the type of bacteria causing infection. In addition to this, antibiotics might not be effective as scar tissue formed at the site of infection carries much less blood vessels and therefore fewer antibiotics to the area of infection.

In the situation where antibiotics are not effective, it becomes essential to remove the implant itself. In the surgery following the infection, the area of infection is cleaned out and new hip joint is implanted.

On the other hand, the surgery can be done safely by controlling the elements that cause hip replacement infection. The following guidelines should be

kept in mind when planning on a hip replacement surgery:

• Find an experienced surgeon for hip replacement surgery
• The equipment and the implant should be free from bacteria
• The surgery should be done by exposing the minimum possible area which can considerably reduce exposure to bacteria
• The patient should not be diabetic 
• Proper tests of patient should be done beforehand.
• Antibiotics should be given before and after the surgery

Following these guidelines, you can always go for hip replacement surgery without the fear of contracting hip replacement infection.