Hip Replacement Surgery

Currently one of the most common surgical operations, the hip replacement is the legacy of Professor Sir John Charnley (1911-82) from Lancashire, and it was the British inventions of the high-density plastic polyethylene and PMMA cement that Charnley used to join a stainless steel femoral head to the thigh bone. This inspired combination was first successfully used by Charnley at Wrightington Hospital in his home county in 1962.

Wrightington still offers this treatment today and has become a place of ‘pilgrimage’ for young surgeons. Charnley himself was motivated by his experience as an Army doctor in WW2. Early prosthetics were made of glass, ivory and even Teflon, but these had failed and patients had caught infections during the procedure. Charnley, who recorded everything meticulously, said that “failure is a relentless teacher” as he persevered in his quest to find the optimal materials and technique.

Charnley tracked all of his orthopaedic patients and when any died, he sent his staff to retrieve the hip to check on its status. He set a new high standard for cleanliness and reporting and his influence spread worldwide, giving millions of sufferers renewed quality of life. He also pioneered fusion of joints by compression, and trauma surgery.

(Images LtoR: Public domain and Laboratoires Servier at Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0)