How long to stay in hospital after hip replacement ?

My 87 year old mother has just had a hip replacement this week.

Does anyone know how long she is likely to need to stay in hospital ?

Also, how much help will she need when she returns home (she lives with my 89 year old father who is very frail and unstable on his feet).


Do people here feel that I should offer to stay with them for a while to help ? the difficulty with this is that they live 200 miles away, and I have a husband and two sons, one still in school.

My stays for each of my hip replacements was 4 days but I was not 87 yrs old either. In the US, sometimes instead of dismissing hip patients to go directly home, surgeons transfer them to a rehab unit first. This might be the case for a patient who lived alone or had co-morbidities or little social support. In a planned hip replacement, this issue is usually considered before the surgery so that the patient and his caregivers can plan for his recovery, either at home or in rehab. Was this talked about at all? Were you or any other family member or friend involved in her pre-op planning?
IMHO, if she is dismissed to go directly home, she and her husband will need some kind of assistance. If her surgical experience is anything like mine, & if she goes home instead of to rehab, she will have visiting nurse and physical therapist visits for at least a couple weeks. This is what I had. After those visits end, she might need at minimum: house cleaning help, someone to run errands, buy groceries, pick up meds, & drive her when she needs it. Early on, she and her husband may need meal preparation assistance. If her community has meals on wheels delivery, this could be a solution. Transportation help can come from local or regional on-demand mini-bus service (my own county operates such a service to take people who can't drive to doctor appts, shopping, etc.)Help with personal care such as bathing is a part of medicare coverage - charged on a sliding scale based on income. My father had this kind of help.
Usually the hospital works all this out at discharge. They usually have a social worker based in the hospital who does this kind of stuff.
Don't feel guilty if it isn't possible for you to stay with them for a long period of time. You may be able to handle some things on the phone in between shorter visits. Use your own judgment and your knowledge of your parents' abilities to make your decision. You can begin by talking to her surgeon or primary care physician about her discharge plans and her needs.

Was this Hip replacement planned. If it was she could be out of hospital in a couple of weeks. If the replacement was due to an accident it might take longer. Also does she have any medical problems because that can delay discharge home. Do you live in the UK, if you do ask your mothers nurses if they have sent a Section 2 off. A section 2 is a form that as nurses we complete to say that our patients condition requires them to have some imput from social services. Many people don't like the inital thought of social services coming in but they can be a god send especially doing basic house hold chores and shopping.
In our hospital we never discharge a patient untill a full assessment has been carried out and we feel the patient would be safe at home.
I recommend you talk to your mothers nurses and the rest of the people involved in her care ie physiotherapist.
Hope this helps you hun xxx

Social Services should arrange a district nurse home help and meals on wheels,
they should also arrange any equipment they will need, like walking frame, helping hand, adjustable table and chair etc.
4-7 days is about the norm to stay in hospital ,but don't be alarmed if they make it a bit longer due to her age,

wish her well bonee chance Mon Ami.

I would see what the hospital has to offer first, very often there is a team of nurses who work between the hospital and the community and offer a supported discharge . . . they check the house for any aids which will make life easier, home helps, etc until she is back to good health.
I would ask for a chat with the nurse looking after your Mum next time you are visiting to discuss your concerns,and she should pass that on at the ward round to the doctors.

Now a days people are leaving the hospital in as little as two days after hip replacement. There are agencies that provided services to eldery people after surgies. Ask the nurses at the hospital for a local listing of the agencies in your mothers area. If paying for help is not an option than she will need your help...

You need to make sure your mother gets assessed by an occupational therapist in hospital. She should be in hospital around 1-2 weeks depending on how functional she is after surgery. It may be sooner, everyone is different. The OT will do an initial assessment finding out about home life, support, previous function and they may contact you to. Functional assessments in hospital such as washing and dressing, kitchen, bathroom depending on what she did before the op. A home visit may be necessary, as movement is restricted after a hip op. This would also look at access to and in the home and her ability to function at home.

If it is found from the OT's assessment that she will need assistance at home they will contact a social worker to assess your parents hopefully together, but make sure you are there in case your father doesn't want to admit to his frailidity.

If the social worker feels help is needed, they will arrange that to be in place for when your mother goes home, whether it just be one call in the morning, evening, in the day up to 4 calls a day. Of course this does sepend on your mum's function.

If your mother is discharged before this can occur; do to her GP and ask for a community referral, where the OT and social worker will come to your parents home to assess the same things. But hospitals generally dont want people back and so should wait while your mother is assessed in hospital.

But lots of people after hip ops go home just as functional as they were and so dont need any help at all.