Total Joint Owner's Manual - Maintaining Your Total Hip and Total Knee

Will my total hip or total knee need to be redone? This is a common question and is understandable given the history of joint replacement failures a generation ago. Yet, greater than 75% of total hips and knees done 25 years ago have not had to be re-operated on! Amazing when you consider these used radical surgical techniques, early implant designs, and were made of poor plastic and metal materials; a far cry from today’s standards! The current generation of implants and bearing surfaces should give excellent results in most patients for 20 years or more, before any maintenance needs to be done on them. The common perception that total joints have to be redone every 10 years is totally wrong!
TWO IMPORTANT CHANGES HAVE IMPROVED THE LIFESPAN OF MODERN TOTAL JOINTS:
- STANDARDIZED IMPLANTS WITH IMPROVED MATERIALS
- REGULARLY SCHEDULED FOLLOW-UP APPOINTMENTS FOR LIFE TO MONITOR THE DEVICE