Introduction
The hip joint consists of two parts. These include the head of the thigh bone and the acetabulum, which is formed by the hip bone. The joint or joint cartilage can be damaged by age-related wear (arthrosis).
This results in cartilage loss at the joint surfaces and deformation of the acetabulum, which causes pain and restricts movement. When conservative therapies are no longer effective for hip joint arthrosis, and hip joint wear is associated with excessive pain and ever-increasing restrictions on movement, it is advisable to perform surgery with hip joint replacement to improve the quality of life and maintain mobility. In case of complete wear and tear, the entire hip can be replaced by an artificial hip joint.
If only certain parts of the joint are destroyed, only these are replaced, so that natural structures can be preserved. If the complete hip joint has to be replaced by an artificial hip joint, this is also called a total hip endoprosthesis (hip-TEP). A hip prosthesis (hip TEP) consists of a shaft that is anchored in the femur, the head that is fixed to the shaft and later articulates with the acetabulum, the acetabulum that is anchored in the natural acetabulum and the so-called insert (inlay) that is fitted into the acetabulum and in which the new femoral head can slide easily.
This form of artificial hip is mainly used in cases of primary arthrosis (wear and tear of the joint without any recognizable individual event) with complete destruction of the joint, where conservative measures are no longer helpful, or a fracture of the femoral neck (femoral neck fracture) with hip arthrosis. The so-called duo-head prosthesis describes a prosthesis of the femur, whereby the acetabulum remains intact. This variant is often used when the neck of the femur has been fractured in older people who do not suffer from arthrosis (cartilage wear) in the hip joint.
