Can both hips be replaced on the same day when one leg has become shorter and the pelvis is tilted?
Dr. Mahajan is Chairman Orthopaedics, Joint Replacement & Chief Robotic Joint Replacement at Max Smart Super Speciality Hospital, Saket.
A woman in her thirties, whose hips had been damaged by steroids she was given during COVID, came to Dr Ramneek Mahajan barely able to walk on two crutches.
Why did the patient need surgery?
The patient says she developed avascular necrosis, the death of bone tissue that has lost its blood supply, because of steroids she was given during COVID. Dr Mahajan says she first gave a history of three to four months, but on asking again it turned out the problem had been going on for a year, and she had been managing it.
Which operation was chosen, and why?
The patient says she met many surgeons first. A family member says Dr Mahajan explained the problem to the family and to the patient. The patient says he used pictures of the joint to show her the problem, and told her he would replace both hips with a robot's help, a robotic arm the surgeon uses to guide the cuts.
Dr Mahajan says both hips were done on the same day.
What made the operation harder, and how was it handled?
Dr Mahajan says that when the patient stood, she needed two crutches and her pelvis, the ring of bones that the hip joints sit in, was tilted. In the three to four months before she came, moving had become so hard that she could barely walk even with the crutches; one leg was shorter than the other, and she had already reached a wheelchair. With the data from her CT scan, a detailed X-ray that builds pictures of the inside of the body, the length of her legs was balanced and they were lined up straight.
How did the patient recover?
Dr Mahajan says the tilt of the pelvis was corrected, and within six weeks of the operation the patient was moving on her own without any support.
The patient says that, almost three months on, she can walk, with crutches for now, and everything is working fine.
A family member says the first month was very hard for the patient and for the family, but that bad patch is over: the patient has recovered and can stand and walk on her own.
What should a patient with hip pain after steroids ask?
This is one woman's story, not a promise: what an operation can do for you depends on your own case.
If you were given steroids and now have hip pain, ask whether avascular necrosis could be the cause.
Ask how the surgeon will even out the length of your legs.
Ask what the first month after the operation is likely to be like, for you and your family.
What this case teaches
Avascular necrosis of the hip after COVID was linked to steroids and the virus, appearing about 126 days later on average, a 2026 review found.
In many cases avascular necrosis affects both hips, the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons says.
Replacing both hips in one operation gave good function and implant survival at a median 4.6 years in 92 selected patients, a 2026 study found.
Robotic help placed the hip socket more accurately with fewer complications, but patients reported no better results, a 2025 review of 38 studies found.
