Hip Replacement for Patients in Their Upper 80's

[amcnj]

Hi. Just wondering if anyone has experience with someone needing a hip replacement when 85-90 years old. Any advice? Any things to look for/be aware of? What was the recovery like, both time wise and as to what was required?

Thanks for sharing any knowledge you have on the matter.

 

[lorijohnhill]

It depends a lot on the health of the patient, what kind of shape they are in, how active they are, etc... My mom (72) has been working toward a hip replacement for about a year. She had to lose a certain amount of weight before they would even consider doing the surgery. She also has to get approval from her pulmonologist and cardiologist prior to the surgery (she has pulmonary hypertension).

She was told to exercise as much as she can, in a pool, to strengthen the muscles around the hip. The doctor said the stronger those muscles are, the easier the recovery. Her hip will be replaced in September.

Best of luck to you! I hope you get better answers than what I was able to provide.

 

[rwdavis2]

If she's otherwise healthy, has her wits, and able to get around then it should be OK. Make sure she understands the rigors of rehab. Not as bad as a knee but still some work.

 

[Disneypeach]

My grandfather had it done at 84. He was in excellent shape and played golf 6 weeks after it was done.

One thing that was an issue for him (us) was the surgeon giving him anti-inflammatory drugs that were contraindicated for the elderly. One med was known to cause depression in older folks and it did for my grandfather. I looked up the med when he began to become depressed and got the surgeon to change it...the new one worked better for my grandfather.

good luck!

 

[asta]

I think it all depends on how willing and dedicated they are to physical therapy. The surgery is tough on the body but an elderly person should not have a problem if they are healthy. Physical therapy will determine how functional the new joint will be so make sure the patient is willing to work at PT.

 

[amcnj]

Thanks to all for your suggestions, advice and experiences!

 

[Kitty 34]

Prince Phillip just had his done and he's in his mid 90s.

 

[cvjw]

There are now two ways to do the incision for a hip replacement. The original way, which cuts thru muscles and requires rehab. Or the new way, which misses the muscles and requires no rehab.

My dad had the new way a couple years back. He was 72 at the time, spent 2 nights in the hospital. Never used a walker. Only used the cane for a couple days. No rehab. Was back at work in a week. He literally had more down time with a cold than with the hip replacement.

His twin brother had the old type of surgery, which required rehab and he still has problems with the hip.

Seriously, look for a surgeon who can do the surgery the new way. I think the incision is from the side, not the top. My dads surgeon was a very young guy, who had just done his internship at Johns Hopkins, and had been trained on the new surgery. It was amazing how easy the recovery was. He is now back to walking 10+ miles a day, when he could barely walk to the mailbox before the surgery!

 

[ols386]

There are now two ways to do the incision for a hip replacement. The original way, which cuts thru muscles and requires rehab. Or the new way, which misses the muscles and requires no rehab.

My dad had the new way a couple years back. He was 72 at the time, spent 2 nights in the hospital. Never used a walker. Only used the cane for a couple days. No rehab. Was back at work in a week. He literally had more down time with a cold than with the hip replacement.

His twin brother had the old type of surgery, which required rehab and he still has problems with the hip.

Seriously, look for a surgeon who can do the surgery the new way. I think the incision is from the side, not the top. My dads surgeon was a very young guy, who had just done his internship at Johns Hopkins, and had been trained on the new surgery. It was amazing how easy the recovery was. He is now back to walking 10+ miles a day, when he could barely walk to the mailbox before the surgery!

I must be a wimp. I had hip replacement, mid-April, the new procedure with the incision on the side. I used a walker for about two weeks, a cane for next two weeks, and I can’t imagine returning to work a week after surgery. Did he by chance have a partial hip replacement? Or was it full? Because I can’t imagine bouncing back as quickly as your father. I’m not doubting your word, I’m just amazed that he was able to bounce back so fast.

 

[cvjw]

Full. If I knew how to post a picture, I would show you the pic of his new hip socket! Sorry you had a longer recovery. I was expecting my dad to need a longer recovery - we had all the walkers, shower seats, etc. ready for him to use. Didn’t end up needing them. Hope you are enjoying the new hip, my dad loves his!!

I must be a wimp. I had hip replacement, mid-April, the new procedure with the incision on the side. I used a walker for about two weeks, a cane for next two weeks, and I can’t imagine returning to work a week after surgery. Did he by chance have a partial hip replacement? Or was it full? Because I can’t imagine bouncing back as quickly as your father. I’m not doubting your word, I’m just amazed that he was able to bounce back so fast.

 

[lovin'fl]

I am bookmarking this thread. My 70 year old mom is having a double knee replacement on the 19th. Maybe....she has some other medical issues and is having her pre-op tests done today and will know if it's a go or not. I am worried about her doing both knees since she is pretty heavy and will have trouble lifting herself up. A neighbor lady also had both knees done, but one at a time, and she told me there was no way she could have handled doing both. She said she wouldn't have the upper body strength to lift herself. But then DH has a coworker who also had double knee replacement and was back to work right away and walking like a new person. He had been barely shuffling about prior to surgery. We shall see. Anyway, thanks for this thread. Helpful, even though about hip replacement.

 

[georgina]

My MIL had surgery in her mid-eighties (not hip replacement), and the general anesthesia did something to her that took her 4 months to recover her mental capacity. She had been in good health and this was completely unexpected. She spent that time in a nursing home unable to care for herself. Eventually she came back. Personally I would avoid general anesthesia in the elderly if possible, based out our experience.

 

[Christine]

My MIL had surgery in her mid-eighties (not hip replacement), and the general anesthesia did something to her that took her 4 months to recover her mental capacity. She had been in good health and this was completely unexpected. She spent that time in a nursing home unable to care for herself. Eventually she came back. Personally I would avoid general anesthesia in the elderly if possible, based out our experience.

Yes, heed this one. Not all that uncommon. My uncle had kidney surgery last year (late 70s) and the anesthesia did something to him that took a while to recover from.

 

[mom2rtk]

I am bookmarking this thread. My 70 year old mom is having a double knee replacement on the 19th. Maybe....she has some other medical issues and is having her pre-op tests done today and will know if it's a go or not. I am worried about her doing both knees since she is pretty heavy and will have trouble lifting herself up. A neighbor lady also had both knees done, but one at a time, and she told me there was no way she could have handled doing both. She said she wouldn't have the upper body strength to lift herself. But then DH has a coworker who also had double knee replacement and was back to work right away and walking like a new person. He had been barely shuffling about prior to surgery. We shall see. Anyway, thanks for this thread. Helpful, even though about hip replacement.

My 84 year old dad had a single knee replacement last August. It was a rough recovery, and he was in great health and very active going into it. He was also very good at keeping up with the physical therapy after. I can't even imagine doing both at once. I asked if he's ever going to consider the second knee, and he said it would have to get a whole lot worse for him to consider it. He's a much happier camper now and is back to bowling weekly and maintaining his 8 acres himself.

Best of luck to your mom. I hope all goes smoothly.

 

[bianca]

I had a THR almost 2 years ago, but only 56 at the time. I do remember that in the class we had to attend prior to surgery, they stated that the oldest patient they had was 102 and did just fine. I had the "old style", as my surgeon didn't do the new method, but since then have found out that there is a higher incidence of dislocation with the newer method. I'm thrilled with my new hip and won't wait as long to get the next one done. I've already been told that I was born with my bad hips and can now feel #2 starting to go. It will probably hold up until next year. Like others have mentioned, exercise prior to surgery helps.

 

[Hrhpd]

I must be a wimp. I had hip replacement, mid-April, the new procedure with the incision on the side. I used a walker for about two weeks, a cane for next two weeks, and I can’t imagine returning to work a week after surgery. Did he by chance have a partial hip replacement? Or was it full? Because I can’t imagine bouncing back as quickly as your father. I’m not doubting your word, I’m just amazed that he was able to bounce back so fast.

I have to agree with you. We have a friend who is a professional athlete (so legs are in really, really good shape) that had his done anterior (new way) in his early 50's. You are not a wimp. Even he, in as good a shape as his muscles were, was still on crutches a few weeks later.

I am having mine done this summer and also anterior. Anterior is not wiping out rehab completely as I still have to go to a few appts right after to make sure I am using the new hip correctly and to minimize the chance of dislocation. I also have been told by the doc, one of the leading anterior specialists in the country (going back to CO to go to the Steadman Clinic in Vail and same doc as athlete above,) that I can expect to be back to full mobilization in about 6 weeks.

For the OP, the one thing the doc told me is that the leading cause of infection in the new joint is dental problems. You can't have dental work done for 6 months post op, so they told me to make sure I had everything done that might need to be done in the next 7 months before surgery. So, I have a deep cleaning and xrays scheduled before the surgery to take care of any possible problems that we might usually postpone and do a wait-n-see approach if I was not scheduled for surgery.

 

[ols386]

I have to agree with you. We have a friend who is a professional athlete (so legs are in really, really good shape) that had his done anterior (new way) in his early 50's. You are not a wimp. Even he, in as good a shape as his muscles were, was still on crutches a few weeks later.

I am having mine done this summer and also anterior. Anterior is not wiping out rehab completely as I still have to go to a few appts right after to make sure I am using the new hip correctly and to minimize the chance of dislocation. I also have been told by the doc, one of the leading anterior specialists in the country (going back to CO to go to the Steadman Clinic in Vail and same doc as athlete above,) that I can expect to be back to full mobilization in about 6 weeks.

For the OP, the one thing the doc told me is that the leading cause of infection in the new joint is dental problems. You can't have dental work done for 6 months post op, so they told me to make sure I had everything done that might need to be done in the next 7 months before surgery. So, I have a deep cleaning and xrays scheduled before the surgery to take care of any possible problems that we might usually postpone and do a wait-n-see approach if I was not scheduled for surgery.

I am 7 weeks post op right now, and doing pretty well. They told me that restrictions will be in effect until 12 weeks post op.

I was not on crutches at all, just walker in the beginning and then cane.

I thought the surgery and first 2 weeks afterwards, were more difficult than what I expected. That being said, I was fairly amazed at how quickly I progressed after those first 2 weeks.

Best wishes to you on your hip replacement this summer.

Edited to add: Meant to tell you, as soon as I came back home from the hospital, I got started on in-home physical therapy. I think that helped me a lot. It got me started moving around right away.

 

[tvguy]

Prince Phillip had hip replacement surgery about 6 weeks before the Royal wedding, and he's 96, and made it the wedding despite that he fell in the bath tub a few days before and cracked a rib.

 

[ols386]

Full. If I knew how to post a picture, I would show you the pic of his new hip socket! Sorry you had a longer recovery. I was expecting my dad to need a longer recovery - we had all the walkers, shower seats, etc. ready for him to use. Didn’t end up needing them. Hope you are enjoying the new hip, my dad loves his!!

Thanks. Yes I’m doing pretty well. After the first two weeks or so, my progress improved quickly. I’m so glad your father is doing well.

 

[Mermaid02]

I had a THR at 42- I felt very discouraged by a slow recovery but something that my doctor said to me made sense. He said that younger patients take longer to recover because they "expect more from the new hip than someone in their 70s or 80s"