Best Practice Health TV
Total hip replacement is a life changing treatment for people with disabling hip pain due to severe arthritis that has lasted longer than 12 weeks despite conservative care.
· Minimally invasive approach
· Well trained and experienced orthopedic surgeon
· Robotic assistance
· Outpatient or highly rated hospital facility
· Proven implants
· Efficient office
Minimally invasive approach – a minimally invasive approach is critical to reduce the pain of surgery, speed recovery, lower the risk of complications, and make sure there are no permanent restrictions. You have three minimally invasive approaches to choose from: anterior, direct superior, and superPATH. Be wary of surgeons who use the legacy ‘posterior’ approach as it weakens the hip joint, hurts, and leaves you with permanent restrictions.
Well-trained and experienced surgeon – we recommend an orthopedic surgeon who is fellowship-trained in joint replacement surgery and does at least 100 joint replacements per year. The best surgeons pick one approach and stick with it.
Robotic assistance – the Stryker Mako is the first robotic to be widely used, but all of the major implant manufacturers are relying on the future of robotics and introducing a system of their own. Robotic assistance enables orthopedic surgeons to be tremendously more accurate in their work. But the biggest benefit to robotic assistance is in the selection and placement of implants. Studies show surgeons place hip implants more accurately, with a 400% reduction in the risk of postoperative dislocation, when they use a robotic assistant. Do not have hip replacement surgery without it.
Outpatient or highly rated facility – to reduce the risk of hospital errors and infection, we recommend having your hip replaced in an ambulatory surgery center. If there is no ambulatory surgery center in your city, then a highly rated hospital is preferred. The government website Hospital Compare publishes the rate of complications for total joint replacement by hospital for Medicare patients. Do not have surgery in a hospital with above average rate of complications.
Proven implants – registries of consecutive patients who have joint replacement surgeries have shown some ball and socket combinations have much better track records than others. In the Australian registry, cementless implants are used more frequently than those that require cement. The Trident (Stryker), Pinnacle (DuPuy), and trinity (Corin) were the most popular sockets, while the Corail (DuPuy), Accolade II (Stryker), and Metafix (Corin) were the top three balls.
Efficient office–patient satisfaction reviews on the internet are a good indication of the efficiency of an orthopedic surgeon’s office. We recommend looking at the average and exclude rankings without enough reviews to create a reliable rating.
We have over 30 to choose from. All are board certified doctors, and physicians that we would want to operate on us or our family. The right surgeon is the one who specializes in performing the surgery you need, at a conveniently located facility, that works with your insurance. Select your location and operation to find the best surgeon for you:
Wesley Richards is an avid pickleball player, but a few years ago, his hip pain was getting in the way of his game. Wesley knew a lot about hip pain: he had his first hip replacement nine years earlier. After a misdiagnosis, multiple consultations, and some hesitation on his part, Wesley eventually found the care [...]
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Great question. The anterior approach that your sister had is what people call a “minimally invasive approach.” The other two minimally invasive approaches to total hip replacement are superPATH and Direct Superior. In this response I am going to use the term “minimally invasive approach” to mean any one of those three. Thankfully, whether the [...]
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Have you ever noticed how when celebrities or heads of state have total hip replacement the surgeon always seems to use a robotic assistant? You saw it a couple of weeks ago in the footage of Kris Jenner’s surgery. There is a reason for that. Rich people don’t like to suffer. You probably don’t, either; [...]
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Last week we talked about Kris Jenner’s hip replacement surgery which she courageously broadcast on HULU. When Kris Jenner wanted to know if her hip pain was bad enough for hip replacement surgery, she did what most people do...she invited a friend over to talk about it. The friend was Martha Stewart. Everyone has that [...]
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We’ve all heard it before, “I trust the doctor.” In particular when the doctor is an orthopedic surgeon. Because they are all good. If they were not, they would not be orthopedic surgeons. Right? Wrong. A botched total hip replacement surgery is a total disaster. Search Facebook for botched hip replacement surgery stories to see […]
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For more than 100 years total hip replacement surgery has been used to help people suffering from hip pain. Today we have a new tool to help. Introducing the mako robot. Total hip replacement, also called hip arthroplasty, is a common operation for the treatment of hip pain due to arthritis. Total hip replacement follows […]
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