During the weeks of February 7-17, I observed a total hip arthroplasty on a 56-year-old Caucasian patient suffering from a femoral neck fracture and to the acetabulum. The fracture was the result of a car accident in which the patient's knees collided with the dashboard, forcing the femur into the hip and breaking the femur. For this report I will focus on total hip replacement, its components, primary surgical technique, and complications. Sir John Charnley first developed total joint arthroplasty in the 1960s (Skinner 395). In total hip replacement “the articular surfaces of the acetabulum and the head of the femur are replaced” (Lemone 1241). A prosthesis is then used to replace the entire femoral head and a portion of the femoral neck. An ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) prosthesis is then inserted into the remodeled acetabulum (Lemone 1242 and Skinner 395). The original procedure developed by Charnley consisted of a stainless steel prosthetic femur and a 22 mm femoral head. We now have different femoral head sizes (22, 25, 25.4, 28, 32 and 35 mm) and different femoral lengths ranging from 110 to 160 mm (Skinner 395). The bone attachment technique has also evolved over the years into two generic models, cement fixation and porous ingrowth prostheses (Skinner 395). Cemented and cementless are the two basic types of total hip replacement. Both types have the same bearing surfaces, ceramic or cobalt-chromium alloy that articulates with a UHMWPE (Skinner 399) bearing surface. Ceramic and cobalt-chromium alloy each have their own set of pros and cons. Ceramic heads will theoretically produce less debris and result in longer life of the hip replacement, but c... in the center of the paper... holds the screwdriver. Total hip arthroplasty introduced me to orthopedics, a field of medicine that manages to incorporate tools that I'm used to dealing with. Works Cited “Arthroplasty and Total Joint Replacement.” The Lippincott Manual of Nursing Practice. Ed. Sandra M. Nettina. 7th ed. Philadelphia: Lippincott, 2001. 993-995.Lemone, Priscilla, RN, DSN, and Karen Burke, RN, MS. "Joint arthroplasty". Medical-surgical nursing. 3rd ed. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Education, 2004. 1241-1243. Lusardi, Michelle M., PhD, PT, and Caroline C. Nielsen, PhD. "Use of orthoses in total hip arthroplasty." Orthotics and prostheses in rehabilitation. Boston: Butterworth-Heinemann, 2000. 227-230. "Total joint arthroplasty". Current diagnosis and treatment in orthopaedics. Ed. Harry B. Skinner, MD, PhD. 3rd ed. New York: Lange Medical Books, 2003. 395-396, 398-403.