Overview

In 1961 John Charnley (1911-1982) developed successful surgery for replacing diseased or injured hip joints with artificial joints. Many surgeons consider total hip replacement (THR) the greatest surgical advance of the second half of the twentieth century, because it has dramatically improved the quality of millions of lives and is relatively free of complications.

Background

The skeletal system gives the body shape, strength, and structure. Generally, it is durable enough to do this, except for a few troublesome areas, particularly the movable joints, which are the weakest parts of the skeleton. Joints, especially the hips and knees but also the shoulders, elbows, wrists, knuckles, and ankles, deteriorate with age, are easily injured, and are commonly subject to debilitating chronic diseases such as arthritis. Joint diseases and injuries have caused agony and disability since the beginning of time, but...