  |
| |
|
 |
 |
| |
Hip Joint
The hip is one of the largest weight-bearing joints in the body.
When it's working
properly,
it lets you walk, sit, bend, and turn
without pain. Unlike the shoulder, the
hip sacrifices degree
of
movement for additional stability. To keep it moving smoothly,
a
complex network of bones, cartilage, muscles, ligaments, and tendons
must all work
in harmony.
The hip is a ball-and-socket joint where the head of the femur
articulates with the
cuplike
acetabulum of the pelvic bone. The acetabulum fits tightly around
the head
of the femur.
The ball is normally held in the socket by very powerful ligaments
that
form a
complete
sleeve around the joint (the joint capsule). The capsule has a
delicate
lining (the synovium).
The head of the femur is covered with a layer of smooth cartilage
which is a fairly soft, white substance. The socket is also lined
with cartilage. This
cartilage cushions the
joint, and allows
the
bones to move on each other with very
little friction.
An x-ray of the hip joint usually shows a "space" between the ball
and the socket
because
the cartilage does not show up on x-rays. In
the normal hip this "joint space"
is approximately
1/4 inch wide and
fairly even in outline.
Click on the interested topics below
Hip anatomy ::
Arthritis of the Hip Joint ::
Total Hip Replacement
(THR)
Hip Resurfacing ::
Revision Hip Replacement
Normal anatomy of the hip joint
How does the hip joint work?
Find out more in this web based movie.
___________________________________________________________________
Arthritis of the hip joint
The term arthritis literally means inflammation of a joint, but is
generally used to
describe any condition in which there is damage to
the cartilage.
Click here to go to the section on arthritis.
___________________________________________________________________
Total Hip Replacement (THR)
Total Hip Replacement (THR) procedure replaces all or part of the
hip joint with an
artificial device (prosthesis) to restore joint
movement. Find out more about the
Total Hip Replacement from the
following options.
Find out more about Total Hip Replacement (THR) with the following
links.
|
 |
 |
| Interactive movie |
Text version |
Patient info handout |
___________________________________________________________________
Hip Resurfacing
Hip Resurfacing or bone conserving procedure replaces the acetabulum
(hip socket)
and resurfaces the femoral head. This means the femoral
head has some or very
little bone removed and replaced with the
metal component. This spares the femoral
canal. Find out more about
Hip Resurfacing from the following options.
Find out more about Hip Resurfacing with the following links.
|
|
|
| Interactive movie |
Text version |
Patient info handout |
___________________________________________________________________
Revision hip replacement
This means that part or all of your previous hip replacement needs
to be revised. This operation varies from very minor adjustments to
massive operations replacing significant amounts of bone and hence
is difficult to describe in full.
Find out more about Revision Hip Replacement with the following
links.
|
|
|
Interactive movie
|
Text version |
Patient info handout |
|