Dameron Hospital | Health Outlook | Fall 2019

ANTERIOR HIP REPLACEMENT From the hip —an anterior approach 6 HEALTH OUTLOOK Advanced hip replacement procedure provides less pain, less scarring and a faster recovery WHEN unbearable pain and stiffness in your hip limits your daily activities, you may need a total hip replacement. Anterior hip replacement may be an option to consider when nonsurgical interventions such as medication, physical therapy and walking aids are no longer effective. Many patients at Dameron Hospital have undergone anterior hip replacement surgery, which has transformed their lives by enabling them to regain activity with reduced or no pain. The most frequent cause of hip pain is osteoarthritis—a disease that involves the wearing away of the normal smooth joint surfaces. This wearing eventually results in bone-on-bone contact, producing pain and stiffness. People experiencing hip pain and discomfort caused by osteoarthritis should seek medical assistance to help maintain their quality of life. The anatomy of the hip A normal hip is a ball-and-socket type joint. The femoral head (the ball) and the acetabulum (the socket) are covered by cartilage that has a very low friction surface, allowing for free and painless motion. In a hip with osteoarthritis, the loss of cartilage surface results in erosion and bone-on-bone contact between the hip socket and ball. The symptoms of arthritis include pain, loss of hip motion and impairment of activities. Total hip replacement is one of the most common treatments for hip osteoarthritis. Anterior vs. traditional hip replacement surgery The traditional approaches to hip replacement are from the back of the joint or buttocks (called the posterior approach) or from the side of the joint (called the lateral approach). These approaches involve a longer incision and require cutting through major muscle groups. With the posterior approach, there is also an increased risk of dislocation of the hip joint after surgery. When using the anterior approach for hip replacement, the surgeon gains access to the joint that needs to be replaced through a small incision made on the front side of the joint. Going through the front of the joint allows the surgeon to move the muscles aside rather than cutting through them, creating less damage and trauma to the soft tissues around the hip. The anterior approach also lowers the risk of dislocating the new prosthesis because the muscles used to support the hip joint remain intact and strong. Additionally, since the incision is on the front side of the leg, patients are spared the pain of sitting on scar tissue. Dameron Hospital offers this approach in-house and has licensed surgeons on staff who utilize a specialized surgical table to perform the surgery. The HANA® surgical table is designed specifically for the anterior hip procedure, and it allows for safer, more accurate placement of the artificial hip components. “Anterior hip replacement is an excellent option for patients with severe hip degenerative joint disease,” says Jaspreet Sidhu, DO, an orthopedic surgeon with Alpine Orthopaedic Medical Group. “This advanced approach allows us to work between the muscles without detaching them from the hip or