Total Hip Replacement Surgery

Today was a big surgery day for one of our medical cases! We have been following up with a medical case at one of the local hospitals, where a 35 year old female needed to do a total hip replacement surgery, due to the fact that her femur was completely damaged. The pain that she was suffering from on a daily basis have hinder her to be pretty much bed ridden for most of her day. She has difficulty walking and even laying down for long periods of time gives her immense pain. The surgery is the only option for her, but due to financial difficulties, it was never an option. So thanks to Tzu Chi and also TIMA Nepal surgeons, the total hip replacement surgery was finally made possible for her today!

*Thanks to local volunteer Suman for providing these amazing photos of the actual surgery*

Total Hip Replacement Surgery uses metal, ceramic, or plastic parts to replace the ball at the upper end of the thighbone (aka femur) and resurface the hip socket in the pelvic bone. This type of surgery replaces damaged cartilage with a new joint material in a step-by-step process. There are two options to this type of surgery: either cemented joints or uncemented joints. The cemented joints are attached to the existing bone with cement, which acts as a glue and attaches the artificial joint to the bone. Uncemented joints are attached using a porous coating that is designed to all the bone to adhere to the artificial joint. Over time, new bone will grow and fill up the openings in the porous coating, in turns attaching the joint to the bone naturally. 

This is the actual removed damaged femur! 

Nice and clean closing of the skin by surgical staples....

The surgery was a success! It went amazingly well! I am so grateful for these Nepalese doctors/surgeons, especially a great big shout out to Dr. Ram (one of the TIMA Nepal core team members and Madhyapur Hospital Director)! Saving lives every chance they get! What an inspiration!