Orthopedics This Week | February 16, 2016 | Page 10
ORTHOPEDICS THIS WEEK
VOLUME 12, ISSUE 6 | FEBRUARY 16, 2016
10
The Rise (and Issues) of Anterior Hip Arthroplasty
BY ROBIN YOUNG
L
iterally the same day Biloine Young,
senior writer for Orthopedics This
Week, was going under the knife for an
anterior hip arthroplasty The Wall Street
Journal was publishing a lead story
touting the increased popularity of the
same procedure.
The Journal’s article (by Lucette Lagnado) described a single patient,
a 54-year-old man (Billie Young is
about 30 years older), receiving his
anterior hip arthroplasty at the Hospital for Joint Diseases, NYU Langone
Medical Center (Billie had her surgery
at Regions Hospital in St. Paul, Minnesota) and then walking on crutches
down the hospital hall by 4pm the
same day.
Billie walked the equivalent of a football
field the morning after her surgery.
The Wall Street Journal’s patient left the
hospital 6pm on the day of the surgery.
Billie left the day after—30 hours after
her surgery.
Billie 1 hour before
anterior hip surgery,
Regions Hospital, St.
Paul, Minnesota
Courtesy of Arizona Public Broadcasting
Is Anterior Hip Arthroplasty for Real?
Remember the 2-incision hip?
That was another technically challenging technique which promised same
day hip arthroplasty. But those chal-
lenges combined with too many readmissions put the 2-incision back on
the shelf.
The traditional hip arthroplasty
approach—a posterior approach—
gives the surgeon good visualization
and reduced error rates.
But it subjects the patient
to significant muscle, tendon