Hip Replacements: Good and Bad News (Ivanhoe)
Total hip arthroplasty is a safe and effective therapy for patients with advanced degenerative joint disease. In recent years, there has been a dramatic increase in performance of this procedure both in the United States and abroad.
An analysis of data from Medicare beneficiaries who underwent a hip replacement or subsequent follow-up corrective surgery between 1991 and 2008 indicates that the length of hospital stay after surgery declined during this period, as did the proportion of patients discharged home.