At your initial appointment, your consultant will take a detailed look at your medical history and ask you a series of in-depth questions about your symptoms, including when they began and how they affect your daily life. They will examine your hip carefully and might also recommend a diagnostic scan to confirm the cause of your symptoms. This could be an
X-ray, a
CT scan or an
MRI scan.
Next, your consultant will confirm your diagnosis and discuss whether hip replacement surgery is the best treatment options for you (they might suggest physiotherapy or steroid injection therapy first). They will ensure that you understand the next steps required in your healthcare journey following your initial consultation. Remember, they are there to answer any questions you might have every step of the way.
Your initial consultation: explained by a hip specialist
We asked Mr Winston Kim, a consultant orthopaedic surgeon and specialist in hip and knee surgery, to describe what happens when patients first visit him at The Alexandra Hospital:
"Many people who visit me come with a family member. This can be helpful, because often it is hard to remember all your symptoms and it can be very easy to forget to mention something. You may find that having a family member there is an excellent way of covering everything, and they will often remember things that you may have missed.
"When you first come to see me, I will clinically assess you. This means I will examine your hip, and often your back, legs, knees and ankles as well. If an X-ray would be helpful and you haven't had one already, I will arrange this for you. Sometimes, additional scans like MRI or CT can be helpful, and again these are easily arranged for you on-site.
"If hip surgery is being considered, it usually means that a diagnosis is self-evident. However, X-rays or other scans can sometimes be helpful in confirming a diagnosis or when planning treatment.
"We will then discuss treatment options, and these will depend on how severe your arthritis is. If it is particularly severe, that's when a discussion about the possibility of a hip replacement would take place."
It is important to know that the decision to have hip surgery will always be yours. Your consultant will give you their advice and guidance, but any treatment at The Alexandra Hospital is very much a collaboration between you both.
Your preoperative assessment
This is a general health check prior to your surgery that will usually be performed by one of our nurses. This check includes a blood pressure test, an electrocardiogram (ECG) to examine your heart activity, and a peak flow test, which examines the function of your lungs. This is a fantastic opportunity to understand the general state of your health, and it's important to make sure you are fit enough to have an operation. You can ask your nurse or consultant any questions you might have about your health along the way.