ABSTRACT
Surgical complications can be basically subdivided into mechanical and probably unavoidable and genuine errors. Mechanical complications include loosening and fractures of the device as well as infection. The first two-part total hip replacements were performed in the mid 1930s, principally by Charnley in England and Judet in France. Secondary degenerative changes usually occur either below or above the level of the fusion although they can be seen anywhere in association with the instrumentation. Virtually every joint in the body has been replaced by a prosthesis at one time or another from the temperomandibular joint to the first carpometacarpal joint. The radiological plain film diagnosis of infection in joint replacement can be difficult because of the metal. The history of hip operations for severe osteoarthritis of the hip started in the 1920s with a girdlestone procedure where the femoral head and synovium were totally resected.
