Small Incision Total Hip Replacement Surgery
About the Procedure:
Hip-joint replacement is one of the most common forms
of major surgery in the U.S. Every year, it frees many people from
the pain and debilitation that come with degenerative hip disease.
In the operation, surgeons remove the degraded hip joint and replace
it with an artificial joint. This widely successful procedure helps
hip-replacement patients to resume active lives.
The optimal approach to hip-replacement surgery has been a matter
of discussion among orthopedists and advertising to the public recently.
Key issues promoted by hospitals have been how long the surgery
takes in the operating room and its degree of invasiveness, including
the size of the surgical incision. The January 15 webcast will demonstrate
the standard of care used at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital
for this operation.
The orthopedic surgical department led at Jefferson by Richard
H. Rothman, MD, PhD, has contributed to many advances in hip-joint
replacement. The group has helped bring about improvements to hip
prostheses, to safety and duration of the operation, and to the
rehabilitation regimen that follows surgery. Today, the orthopedic
surgery community continues to look to Thomas Jefferson University
Hospital to help set direction in hip procedures.
Progress in hip replacement surgery has indeed permitted smaller
incisions. Some hospitals have promoted the smallest-possible incisions
as offering the best advantages to patients. Currently, Jefferson’s
department uses an incision of typically four to six inches –
as compared to the conventional 12-inch incision. As a result, teams
at Jefferson perform the procedure with less trauma to the tissue
around the joint area, while keeping the length of the operation
to 35 to 45 minutes on average. This procedure, which may be briefer
and less invasive than that performed at other medical centers,
also allows our center to keep infection rates, blood loss, and
immediate post-operative recovery time to a minimum. In addition,
Jefferson’s operating rooms, which are designed for these procedures
and use special air-filtration systems as well as “space suit”
attire for the surgical teams, also aid in keeping infection rates
very low (less than .5 percent in Jefferson’s program).
While some centers have promoted hip replacement using even smaller
(approximately three-inch) incisions, this lengthens time of surgery.
At this time, Jefferson’s group has deemed this less advantageous
to the patient and to surgical outcome.
The operation that Jefferson’s orthopedic surgeons will demonstrate
represents what they consider the current best-practice approach
for this procedure. It balances two goals: that of decreasing the
invasiveness of the surgery with that of offering the access needed
to keep the operation short and achieve excellent surgical results.
If you are a physician and would like to refer a patient to a Jefferson
orthopedic surgeon for this procedure, please call 215-955-0215.
If you are a patient and would like to make an appointment with
a Jefferson orthopedic surgeon or would like more information about
this procedure, please call 1-800-JEFF-NOW.
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