Risk Assessment (Comorbidities)

Preoperative risk assessment in total hip arthroplasty (THA) is crucial for ensuring the safety of both the surgery and anesthesia, as well as for guaranteeing favorable postoperative outcomes. The risk assessment involves an interview to review the patient's current medical condition, past medical history, comorbidities, medications, previous anesthesia and surgical history, smoking history, and alcohol consumption. To ensure surgical safety, preoperative tests may include blood tests, urinalysis, electrocardiogram (ECG), echocardiogram, respiratory function tests, plain X-rays, computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), infectious disease screening, and allergy tests, as needed. Based on this information, risks are evaluated, and additional consultations with other specialists are requested if necessary. For successful placement of the hip prosthesis, it is important to assess factors such as bone fragility, obesity, short stature, metastatic bone tumors, risk of infection, dislocation risk, leg length discrepancy, abnormal bone morphology, and history of previous hip surgeries.