A hip joint consists of two parts - the ball and the socket. The ball refers to the head of the femur/thigh bone and the socket refers to the acetabulum, which receives the femoral head. A hip replacement involves replacing the worn out ball and socket joint with new prosthetic components.

Generally, there are three types of hip replacements.

1. Cemented - Both implants (femur and acetabulum) are fixed to the bone using bone cement. Bone cement is a specialised grout that is used to fix the implant to the bone.

2. Un-cemented - Both implants are press fixed to the bone without the need for cement.

3. Hybrid - Where one implant (femur or acetabulum) is fixed using cement and the other is not.

Attached below are a few examples of hip replacement x-rays taken before and after surgery. In these images, it may also be possible to appreciate the increasing complexity of the arthritis with bone destruction and severe deformity.