Questions to Ask Surgeon Before Hip Replacement
Questions to ask at a consultation before hip replacement surgery, whether you are still deciding if now is the right time or already have a date. They cover the approach and the implant, the surgeon's own results, what recovery looks like week by week, and the help you will need at home.
The questions
Open any question for the note
Am I ready for this, or is it reasonable to wait?
Why ask it
Timing is a genuine decision rather than a formality, and it turns on your pain at night, how far you can walk, and what has already been tried. A surgeon who cannot describe any case for waiting may not be weighing it.
What can you see on my scans? Can you show me?
Why ask it
Looking at the images together connects your symptoms to what is actually worn. It also brings out findings that change the plan, such as bone quality, deformity, or an old injury you had forgotten about.
What haven't we tried yet: injections, physiotherapy, pain management, weight?
Why ask it
Asking out loud tests whether the non-surgical options were genuinely exhausted or simply skipped. If an alternative would only buy you a year, it is far better to hear that said plainly than implied.
Which surgical approach would you use, and why that one for me?
Why ask it
The reason should be about your anatomy, weight, previous surgery or activity, not only about what the surgeon prefers or what the hospital stocks. Listen for whether the answer is personalised at all.
Which implant would you use, and how long has that one been in use?
Why ask it
Track record matters more than novelty. Ask how long the specific implant has been on the market and whether it is followed in a registry, because newer designs simply have less long-term data behind them.
How many of these do you do a year, and how many does this hospital do?
Why ask it
Ask for both figures, since the ward, the physiotherapy team and the theatre staff matter as well as the surgeon. It is a reasonable question, and a surgeon who bristles at it has told you something useful.
What are your own results for infection, dislocation and revision?
Why ask it
The real point is whether they track their outcomes at all. Being given national averages instead of personal figures is a partial answer, worth following up by asking how their own numbers compare with those averages.
What can go wrong, and which of those is most likely for someone like me?
Why ask it
Consent lists are long and undifferentiated. Asking them to rank the risks for your age, weight, other conditions and medication produces the version that should actually shape your decision.
What about my health or medication needs sorting out before the date?
Why ask it
Dental infections, skin breaks, anaemia, poorly controlled diabetes, smoking and blood thinners all commonly delay or complicate this operation. Getting the list early gives you time to do something about it.
What kind of anaesthetic, and will I meet the anaesthetist beforehand?
Why ask it
Spinal and general anaesthesia carry different recoveries and different risks depending on your other conditions. Ask for the pre-assessment appointment, because the anaesthetist is the person who can answer this properly.
How long will I be in hospital, and what has to happen before I can go home?
Why ask it
Discharge usually depends on criteria rather than a number of days: walking a set distance, managing stairs, pain controlled on tablets, passing urine. Knowing the criteria lets you prepare rather than simply wait.
What will I be able to do on day one, at two weeks, and at six weeks?
Why ask it
Asking for three fixed points prevents vague reassurance that recovery is quick these days. It also gives you the checkpoints you need to plan work, childcare and help at home around.
What movements will be restricted afterwards, and for how long?
Why ask it
Restrictions differ by approach and by surgeon: bending past a certain angle, crossing your legs, low chairs, sleeping position. Ask for the list in writing, because these are the instructions people forget first.
What equipment or changes at home will I need, and when should I sort them?
Why ask it
Raised toilet seat, chair height, crutches or a frame, rugs cleared, bed moved downstairs. Arranging all of this before the operation is much easier than organising it by phone from a hospital bed.
How much help will I need at home, and for how many days?
Why ask it
Push for hours and days rather than a general answer, because it decides whether you need someone staying over, visiting daily, or simply reachable. This is where most recovery plans quietly come apart.
What does the physiotherapy involve, and who provides it?
Why ask it
Rehabilitation largely determines your final strength and range of movement. Ask whether it is arranged by the hospital or left to you to organise and pay for, and what the first fortnight actually involves.
How will the pain be managed, and what will I go home with?
Why ask it
Ask for the plan across the first two weeks and how you step down from stronger medication. Ask too about what is prescribed to reduce clot risk and to prevent constipation, since both routinely follow this operation.
What should I be able to do in a year that I can't do now?
Why ask it
This makes the benefit concrete: stairs, sleeping through the night, walking a particular distance, a specific activity you miss. Naming your own priorities also gives the surgeon the chance to correct an expectation that will not be met.
What will I have to give up permanently?
Why ask it
Running, contact sport and heavy repetitive lifting are the usual subjects, and advice varies by surgeon and implant. It is better to hear the limits now than to build plans the joint will not support.
How long is this likely to last for me, and what happens if it needs replacing?
Why ask it
Revision is a larger operation with a longer recovery, and your age affects how likely it is to be needed. Ask how the joint will be monitored over the coming years and who is responsible for that.
Preparing for a hip replacement consultation
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Before the appointment
Write down your three worst limitations, with examples
Part of the decision rests on how much the hip restricts your life, and "it hurts a lot" carries less information than "I wake three times a night and cannot manage the stairs at work". Take the list on paper, because it is easy to understate the problem in a short appointment.
Take someone with you
Two people remember more than one, and a second listener catches the sentence you missed while thinking about the last one. Agree in advance which two or three questions matter most to you, in case the appointment runs short.
Bring a current medication list, including supplements
Blood thinners, anti-inflammatories, diabetes medication, steroids and some supplements all affect the plan and the timing. An accurate list at the first appointment avoids a cancellation later in the process.
Ask what kind of appointment this is
A first consultation, a decision appointment and a pre-operative assessment cover different ground and different people. Knowing which one you are attending tells you whether to expect a date, and what to bring.
Practical preparation at home
- Deal with anything that would postpone surgery: dental problems, broken skin, a chest infection.
- Arrange help for the first two weeks in particular, plus cover for pets, driving and shopping.
- Clear floors, remove loose rugs, and move everyday things to waist height before you go in.
- Check the height of your bed, chair and toilet against what the physiotherapy team tells you to expect.
- Decide in advance whether you will sleep upstairs or down, and set the room up before the operation.
- Talk to your employer about a phased return before surgery rather than during recovery.
Worth asking again closer to the date
- How much help you will need at home and for how long. The answer often changes between clinic and discharge.
- The restrictions on bending, crossing your legs and sleeping position, since these vary with the approach used.
- Which of your medicines stop before the operation, and on exactly which day.
- Who to call, and on what number, if something looks wrong once you are home.
Ask for these in the surgeon's own words before you go home
- Calf pain, swelling or breathlessness, which need assessment straight away.
- Fever, or a wound that becomes more painful, spreads redness, or starts to discharge.
- A sudden change in leg length, or being unable to put weight through the leg.
- New numbness, or loss of movement in the foot.
- Write the list and the phone number down together and keep it somewhere obvious rather than in the discharge folder.