Research has shown that patients have better outcomes from hip replacement when their surgeons do many of these procedures per year. This may be especially important in smaller hospitals, where there are fewer hip surgeries overall.

A recent study looked at 59,000 Medicare patients who had hip replacements. Researchers examined the results 90 days later. Complications were rare. But patients whose hip replacements were done by surgeons who did more than 50 procedures a year had fewer dislocations than those operated on by surgeons who did fewer than five procedures a year. Patients with "high load" surgeons also had less infection and pulmonary embolism.

It's important that you're comfortable with your surgical care. Talk with your doctor about your options.