On 14 Jun, 2025, Seniors Today hosted their weekly Health Live Webinar with a Senior Orthopaedic Surgeon, Dr Rajesh Dharia, who spoke on and answered questions about Hip Replacement for Seniors.
Dr Rajesh Dharia is a leading Consultant Orthopaedic and Joint Replacement Surgeon based in Mumbai, having performed over 5000 replacement surgeries. An award winning doctor, Dr Dharia is trained in Mumbai, UK, Germany, the US, Japan and Australia. He operates at Saifee, Breach Candy, HN Reliance and the Cumballa Hill Hospitals amongst others.
Most orthopaedic surgeons will not be able to tell whether the hip is operated or not, if the results lead in the patient walking and dancing after his/ her surgery.
The world recognises Indian doctors to be doing better work than most, in the medical fraternity.
Mumbai has become a place for medical tourism in the world, which is how Dr Dharia could help the Ethiopian Grandmother with her hip which was painfully bent at 90 degrees and the lady was in a wheelchair. The patient left the hospital walking.
Dr Dharia had also performed a hip replacement surgery on a 102 year old man.
Hip replacement surgeries and hip fractures require mandatory surgeries, regardless of the age of the patient, for their mobility.
Tanaz Irani, an entertainer, was diagnosed with an Avascular Necrosis of the hip and arthritis by Dr Dharai. And was treated with hip replacement surgery. Initially, she also had shortening of the leg, but now her gait is restored and you cannot tell the difference anymore.
In young patients, they are highly active and their demands with respect to mobility of the hip are very high.
Which is why every individual undergoing treatment/ hip replacement surgery is warned that they will not be able to bend their hip beyond 90 degrees, sit on the floor or even jump around.
An operated hip is unable to take thrusts and rotations at larger angles and also poses problems while sitting cross legged.
Not adhering to these precautions can lead to the hip becoming loose, breakage of the liner. This is why it is said that after hip replacement surgery, you can lead a normal life, but you cannot lead an athletic life.
This is why it is advised to have a constrained athletic life.
Hip replacement surgeries are usually done in the elderly who have limited movement and mobility of the hip even in their daily routine, for them hip surgeries last longer. It is whoosh the young patients who have undergone hip replacement surgery that the strength of the metal is put to test.
In the elderly age group, where the bone quality is very poor and the bone is osteoporotic do we prefer cemented hip replacement surgery.
In the young age group, that is undergoing hip replacement surgery, a cement less surgery is preferred.
After putting a plastic hip, the wear rate is 0.15 mm per year. Similar, the wear rate in a ceramic hip is 0.002 mm per year. As we perform our daily activities after the surgeries, there is wear and tear in the hip. If the wear is faster, the surgery would have to revised earlier.
The wear rate in a ceramic hip is very low, however the cost is higher.
If you put a bilateral ceramic hip (head and liner), the difference goes between 50,000 to 80,000. If you use metal on plastic, it can be slightly cheaper.
The cemented ones are cheaper that the cement less hip replacement surgeries.
All prosthetics are covered by the insurance. They fall under the head of materials.