I just opened my local Sunday paper today to find a full page…

Some patients in need of a hip replacement will ask me if they are candidates for a partial rather than a total hip replacement because it sounds “less invasive.” Unlike the knee (which has three distinct compartments and when one wears out there’s a good chance that only that compartment needs to be replaced), the hip is a single ball (femoral head) and joint socket (acetabulum) and a partial hip replacement often isn’t the optimum choice.

In my previous blog post, I shared that one out of five people (approximately 20 percent) who undergo Total Knee Replacement (TKR) are not satisfied with the result. I discussed the methods we use to understand the exact cause/causes of unsatisfactory outcomes, in order to improve these results.

Occasionally, even when a TKR “looks good on paper,” more surgery is required to correct and improve the existing outcome. If TKR revision truly is necessary, then the specific reason for the failure must be understood fully before it can be corrected.