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Total Right Hip Arthroplasty Observation

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TOTAL RIGHT HIP ARTHROPLASTY OBSERVATION 2

Total Right Hip Arthroplasty Observation

On April 11, 2014, I had the privilege of direct observation of a patient’s orthopedic surgery, from the pre-operative to post-operative setting. The patient with the initials N.R, which we will call Mrs. R, arrived to the hospital just prior to 6:30a.m. As the name implies, Mrs. R was a female patient, 76 years old with an admitting diagnosis of right hip osteoarthritis. Due to arthritis in her hip, Mrs. R’s ability to perform daily activities and participate in hobbies such as dancing has been extremely compromised over the last 2 years. The overall goal of Mrs. R’s surgery …show more content…

Once the head of the femur was removed, a drill was used to create a canal in the femur; this allows the femoral stem to be placed. The head is then connected to the same femoral stem. The small head is the replacement for the original femoral head which was the site of the osteoarthritis. Next an acetabular shell made of high molecular weight polyethylene is inserted into the acetabulum of the hip bone. The acetabular shell and femoral head articulate with one another and comprise Mrs. R’s new hip joint (United States Library of Medicine, 2013). The purpose of this surgical follow through paper is to discuss Mrs. R’s experience as she moves through four different clinical experiences or phases that make up her surgical procedure. The phases Mrs. R will move through consist of her pre-operative clinical experience, her intra-operative clinical experience, her recovery room clinical experience, and finally her post-recovery room …show more content…

She will need to be taught the basic mechanics of using the walker especially on stairs, since she has 3 stairs to get into her house and a couple within her house. For safety purposes the therapists will need to teach Mrs. R how to navigate both up and down these steps. Second, Mrs. R might need a bench to sit on while taking a shower (once allowed) or be taught how to get in and out of a tub shower with this same bench inside for her to sit on. Navigating over the side of the tub might be challenging for Mrs. R especially if she has no assistance, since most of her family lives in Georgia. Most importantly Mrs. R will have to accomplish all of this without flexing her new hip more than 90 degrees causing a dislocation which is a potential complication after a hip surgery (Lewis, Dirksen, Heitkemper, Bucher, & Camera, 2011, p

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