Question

Following hip replacement surgery, the client has had many weeks of physical therapy. Upon assessing the wound, it is still red and draining thick, green, odoriferous secretions. The client has limited range-of-motion and is constantly reporting pain. The physician explains that the hip device needs to be removed. Why is removal required?

a) The body considers the hip replacement device a foreign body and an infection has developed around the joint.

b) Maybe a fragment of bone has been rubbing at the insertion site of the joint and keeping it inflamed.

c) The device is impeding the supply of nutrients and oxygen to reach the inflamed area.

d) No amount of antibiotic therapy will be able to reach the area around the new joint and kill the infection.

Answer 1

The hip device needs to be removed due to a serious infection around the joint (option a), which has not responded to antibiotic therapy. This is common when the immune system considers the implant a foreign body and bacteria form resistant biofilms.

Step-by-step explanation:

The physician's decision to remove the hip replacement device is due to an infection that has developed around the joint. The symptoms described by the client, such as the red wound draining thick, green, odoriferous secretions, limited range of motion, and constant pain, are indicative of a serious infection. Removal is required because the device is considered a foreign body by the immune system, and antibiotic therapy alone may not be able to clear the infection surrounding the new joint.


Such complications are possible consequences after a hip arthroplasty, particularly when infections are severe enough that they do not respond to antibiotics, likely due to the formation of bacterial biofilms on the implant surface that are resistant to medication and the immune response.