HIPPY

  • Research type

    Research Study

  • Full title

    Hip Implant Prosthesis Programme for the Younger total hip replacement patient

  • IRAS ID

    340331

  • Contact name

    Elsa Marques

  • Contact email

    e.marques@bristol.ac.uk

  • Sponsor organisation

    North Bristol NHS Trust

  • Duration of Study in the UK

    8 years, 0 months, 1 days

  • Research summary

    Over 100,000 hip replacements are performed each year in the UK. Around 90% of patients report good pain relief and mobility after surgery, and most implants last 25 years or more. Primary hip replacement involves replacing a damaged hip joint with an artificial implant that has two main parts. One part goes into the thigh bone and ends in a ball which fits into a socket or cup attached to the pelvis, making a ball-and-socket joint. Implants can be fixed to bone with cement (cemented), without cement (uncemented), or cemented in the thigh bone and uncemented in the pelvis (hybrid). Cost ranges from £500 for some cemented to £2,000 for some uncemented implants. When an implant fails, for example, due to loosening or wear, it has to be re-done (revision surgery). Revision is a major operation, typically costing the NHS over £10,000 and it doesn’t give patients the same benefits as first time surgery.

    Cemented hip implants are safe, inexpensive, have a long track-record, and offer the best value-for-money for men aged over 75 and women aged over 65 years. There is no high-quality evidence to suggest more expensive uncemented or hybrid implants are any better than cemented implants for younger patients. Yet three quarters of NHS patients aged under 70 years receive uncemented or hybrid implants.

    This is a three-group clinical trial in which patients younger than 70 years will Study patients will be followed-up until the end of the trial to find out which group needed fewer revision surgeries.

  • REC name

    West Midlands - Coventry & Warwickshire Research Ethics Committee

  • REC reference

    24/WM/0082

  • Date of REC Opinion

    27 Jun 2024

  • REC opinion

    Further Information Favourable Opinion