The musculoskeletal system which comprises of different muscles, bones,
and ligaments give support, stability, shape, and movement to the human body.
The total number of bones in the skeletal system are 270 at birth and gradually
reduce in number to 206 at adulthood due to fusion of few bones. Hip joint is
amongst the largest of the weight-bearing joints after the knee and also one of the strongest joints.
Usually, the average male femur is about 480mm in length with a diameter
of 23.4mm. The hip joint is a classic example of a ball and socket joint
where the head of the femur articulates in the acetabulum of the pelvis. The head
of the femur and acetabulum are covered by a 63.5mm thick shiny white hyaline
which acts as a smooth cushion to the joint. This joint has synovial fluid
articulated in the mating surface which allows the joint to flex under different
pressures without causing wear and tear. The synovial fluid and the hyaline help
the bones move each other at different degrees of freedom without causing pain
to the human.
Usually, hip problems are associated with aged people due to worn-out hip
joints. However, hip joint disorders can be associated with any person
irrespective of age without proper care.
Hip replacement surgery is considered to be amongst the greatest
advances in health care of the twentieth century. In 1925 the first replacement
made out of glass was used for the surgery by an American surgeon Marius
Smith-Petersen. An American surgeon named Dr. Austin T. Moore at the
Columbia Hospital, South Carolina performed the first metallic hip replacement
surgery on September 28, 1940. Later, Sir John Charnley, who is considered
the father of modern total hip arthroplasty, modeled a low friction arthroplasty
in the early 1960s. This design was identical, in principle, to the
prosthesis used in the present day. It consisted of a stem and head of the femur
and an acetabular cup with a backing cup.
