BHS Surgical Standard on investigation of the painful total hip replacement
A small but significant proportion of patients have ongoing pain following Total Hip Arthroplasty. Despite routine clinical tests the diagnosis can remain unclear and challenging. This surgical standard includes all patients with persistent pain over 3 months following total hip replacement that have had infection and aseptic loosening ruled out with routine investigations including plain X-rays and CRP. For further guidance on the diagnosis of prosthetic joint infection and aseptic loosening please refer to the respective BHS Surgical Standards.
The British Hip Society are grateful to a number of colleagues, including Ben Oakley, Joanna Maggs, Kate Gill, Mike Whitehouse, Matt Wilson and Lucie Gosling from the BHS and Priya Suresh, Alun Daies and Radhesh Lalam from the British Society of Skeletal Radiology who have produced the latest BHS Surgical Standard document. This focuses on the investigation of the painful total hip replacement and I’m sure will prove a useful guide for clinicians in this difficult patient group.