Knee and hip replacements sometimes need to be redone in an operation called a ‘Revision’. This is why it is best practise that conservative management has been optimised and then to have failed before considering your first hip replacement.

A revision of a joint replacement takes longer and is both surgically and technically more demanding than the first hip replacement. This often is at a time when the patient is older with more medical problems than their first hip replacement.

Increased complexity and operative time leads to longer recovery time and risks of both minor and major complications are significantly increased.

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Australian age at revision hip and knee joint replacement surgery ANJRR 2013

This is a procedure which involves removing some or all of the original knee or hip components and replacing with new implants. Revisions are divided into three classes, major total, major partial and minor. The most common is major partial where one side of the prosthesis is revised rather than both.

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Australian class of revision hip and knee joint replacement surgery ANJRR 2013

The most common reasons for revision surgery are loosening/lysis (50.6%), dislocation (14.1%), infection (13.0%) and fracture (9.7%) (ANJRR 2013)