Are there people who should not have a hip replacement?

Hip replacements are done for a variety of reasons but, unfortunately, not everyone who needs one can have one.

Total hip replacement surgery is major surgery that requires going under general anesthetic and going through a recovery process. People with certain medical conditions may not be considered good candidates for going under anesthetic and others may be considered too high a risk for complications to have surgery. Finally, if working through the recovery process may be too difficult for a patient, his or her surgeon may decide against doing the surgery.