New approach to hip replacement.

• Position: Surgery - Surgical innovation - Brief Article

A new approach to hip replacement surgery done through a few small portals instead of a large, 12-to-18-inch incision used in traditional hip replacement surgery, dramatically reduces time in the hospital, pain, and expenses. Because it involves less cutting of muscles, tendons, and ligaments, patients recover more swiftly and may be able to go home the day after surgery, compared with a four-to-five-day hospitalization for traditional hip replacement surgery.

The first minimally invasive hip replacement surgery of this type in the country was done at Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center, Chicago. "We use a cementless prosthesis that grows into the bone, and the patients walk out of the hospital on crutches the day after the operation," notes orthopedic surgeon Richard Berger, who is involved in a 120-patient research study to evaluate the effectiveness of the new surgical approach toward reducing pain and bleeding, and speeding up recovery time.

The surgical technique involves new ways of getting into the hip through smaller and smaller incisions, yet still...