[Total hip replacement: between normal rehabilitation and complication]

Total hip replacement is a common and succesful treatment of the osteoarthritis of the hip. According to the demographical trends in Switzerland in the coming decades, there will be a significant increase in the demand for total hip replacement surgery. The 20-year survival of a total hip prosthesis is approximately 85%. New prosthesis designs aim to improve the hip biomechanics, sacrifice less bone stock and facilitate "minimal-invasive"' approaches to the hip joint. Severe complications in total hip replacement comprise dislocation, aseptic loosening, infection, periprosthetic fracture and limping. The painful total hip replacement requires thourough and systematic work up of extrinsic and intrinsic causes. A referral to the orthopaedic specialist should be considered early.