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New Doubts About Popular Joint Surgery

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Excellent article! I have long had and read concerns about MIS. I still find it difficult to imagine how they can get that implant through such small incisions and worse, how they can properly align it. Beats me!
 
Hi, Good article. When I had my hip replaced (right posterior, biomet metal on metal) my doctor told me he would make the incision smaller than traditional but would make it as long as he needed for the ideal outcome. I ended up with a 6 inch incision and recovery was excellent. Don't know if I have what would be considered MIS or not--outcome is most important.

Laurie
 
A sort of semi-MIS, Laurie! Many are compromising with doing traditional approaches just not making the incision quite so big.
 
Hi all,
This article
broken link removed: https://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=50485
put me off MIS. Am quite happy to have a big long scar and for the surgeon to be able to see what he is doing!
Monica
 
Yep - another good one. And, I might add, much the same goes for hip-resurfacing.

BTW, I just emailed the author of the first article and told him he was incorrect that hip replacements had started "as long ago as the 1970s".

He emailed me right back saying surgeons had told him that to which I replied "American surgeons, no doubt - they were always a few years behind us!"
 
A reason to be glad for the 2 reddish lines running down my legs that I struggle with in my mind's eye.
 
Hi Josephine. I made my decision to have THR based on a local Dr's advice. He is very well respected in our local community through word of mouth and personal recommendations. I asked about hip resurfacing as my younger (mid 40's) brother in law had the birmingham HR in the DC area last year and is very pleased so far. My Dr.'s position is that except for individuals who are younger (30-40's) he recommends THR as the surgery/recovery for resurfacing is the same and sometimes longer. He believes that the hip he uses (Biomet metal on metal) has every chance of lasting at least 25 yrs (said he hopes I outlive my hip at the current age of 55). However, he did say that if I decided on resurfacing he would be happy to refer me to a Dr. that does them frequently as he doesn't. (I respected him for that.)

Interesting about the "top dr" comment. I could have gone into NYC to a specialized hospital as I am less than 1 hr away. However, chose the benefit of having my Dr and hospital in same town as I live--and because I really like my Dr. Couldn't help but note that my first roommate in the subacute hospital went to the top hospital in NYC for her back surgery and was having a miserable time with the results/recovering (not to compare backs to hips....but)

I am a lay person when it comes to medical stuff but as others have said many times, finding a tried and true Dr who you can trust is the most important.

Back to work!!!

Laurie

PS: At 2 months out from RTHR, am back to full gym routine--40 minutes on elliptical and now 10 on treadmill with 9 incline for good meaure. Am able to cross my right leg over left now and easily tie my shoe and shave my legs. Heaven!!! I feel 10 years younger. And sleep is much better too.
 
My scar of 2 months is also 6 inches and wondered about how long would take to fade to white. NOt into bikinis (never was even when I could wear one!!!) but will be nice to have it fade to white in any case.

THanks,
Laurie
 
vickymm said:
The key to any successful surgery is finding a skilled and experienced surgeon that knows how to place the device correctly. The BHR has 17 years history, 11 that they have tracked. The Wright Conserve Plus device also has about 12 years of data now. So resurfacing is proven but the other side of it is that it is difficult to find a good surgeon that can implant it correctly. Research and talk to several doctors before deciding to have your hip resurfaced just like you would with getting a THR. Anyone under the age of 70 that is very active should look into hip resurfacing first if they have good bone quality. Travel if you have to, I did, mine was done in India by one of the world’s top resurfacing surgeons. There are many doctors in the U.S. now that I would recommend. If anyone wants to contact me offline, please email me an dI can direct you to different websites full of information. Take a look at that youtube channel for tons of hip resurfacing videos.

Hope this is helpful.Vicky
Click to expand...


Vicky, Just had the chance to watch videos, very impressive. However, recovery time is not always so quick. My B-I-L, age 45 and quite an athlete, had the birmingham resurfacing last year. While he is pleased with the results and doing all his sports again, he took quite a bit of time recovering, about 12 weeks and he has a very long incision. Just glad all has gone well for everyone, no matter the recovery time.
Laurie
 
Vicky, Couldn't help but respond--as we shouldn't use one example of my BIL re: recovery from resurfacing, shouldn't use mother as example of typical replacement--especially in 2008. I tend to agree with Ruth--recovery and activity level has more to do with condition of patient, not type of surgery. Though I am not a dancer, at 2 months post surgery from RTHR, am able to do pretty much everything you described at your party--though won't test with relatives til later in year. At 55 am back to very demanding job, gym etc.

Of course if I ever need surgery on my left hip, will explore all options available, including resurfacing (hip fine now but you never know).

As is oftentimes the case, there is more than one solution to the problem. So fortunate that there is a choice for most of us. Enough said as far as I am concerned. How wonderful that we are all doing so well.

Have a good evening,
Laurie
 
I agree Laurie, if this discussion has shown one thing, it is that there are a lot of options out there, for which I am very grateful. I seriously considered resurfacing for my left hip and will look at it again when my right hip starts giving me grief. Thanks all for your posts, I find the research and these discussions incredibly fascinating.
Monica
 
Hi All,
I am 6 weeks out from Bi-lats. And I have returned to mostly normal life I can run up and down stairs. Can't run fast enough to do my dogs justice yet but I am back to being able to train them.
I think the bottom line of the article is KNOW YOUR SURGEON and DO YOUR HOMEWORK. There is this tendency to forget that Dr.s are not born super beings. They are just like the rest of us but their education is in a different field. So in any given group you have a range from barely competent, to the star of the class. For me I want the savant, who may be divorced 3 times because he/she is so obsessive about doing their job better than any one else. Everything else is secondary.
I go around with a silly grin because I can not believe how easy all of this was for me. I did spend months researching everything from the the doctor to the prosthesis. When I decided on the Doc then I read everything he has published (and there was a fair amount). When I asked about resurfacing I got a flat No. My particular Dr. does not do Resurfacing on women because of our bone density issues with age(I'm 48). He also does not use metal on metal because he is concerned about the metal ion build up and does not feel enough study has been done to justify the risk. In the end because he had studied reasons for his opinions I trusted his judgment and track record.
But still the bottom line is Do your homework and Don't compromise. If you have to travel to get the best in the area is that such a big deal? A weeks worth of inconvenience for years of better results.

FWIW,
Donna

Who has 4 inch scar on the front of each hip. :)
 
I had decided hip resurfacing made the most sense for me. I really did not like the idea of my bone being sawed off . I already had my doc that I really liked. Just like Donna , he said he does not do them or recommend it for women due to bone density issues ( I was 50) . The same with metal/metal ion possible as future problems. I have ceramic/highly cross linked poly.
I had the traditional posterior approach (He said it was his preference).

Although the whole idea of needing a hip replacement was a total shock to me, I was very fortunate to find this forum on the very day I made the apt for surgery.
Five months later it is hard to imaging all this has just happened. The new hip is awesome.
Now he is working on the knees!!!

Judy
 
I wish I had seen this article before.....but I had a Zimmer part for my THR in Feb. with a MIS and now I am having a lot of pain right below the scar down about 4 inches. OS "thinks" it is IT Band Syndrome....and wants to "try" to stretch that muscle...... Anyone heard of having this done? He has only done it once and I am leary of having him do it.
Thanks
 
Phoggie,
I would be getting other opinions if my doc had only done this once before. I needed some involved endocrine testing done a few years ago. My doc asked Kaiser (He was a non Kaiser doc out of state to boot) to have me go to Calif and have these done by docs that were used to doing them. Kaiser refused and sent me to an Atlanta hospital. I was lightly sedated and heard all the problems adn some swearing when the doc could not get into the proper place (in my brain!!!).
It cost Kaiser $50,000 for nothing as the results were not valid and the doc said if he had another try , he did not think he could do any better. Second test a week later, as I am being wheeled to the OR the doc approaches me in the hall, tells me he has only done this one twice and is not comfortable doing it. Tells me he will introduce me to the surgeon that has done it a few times more than he has. well , almost the same scenario, test ends up getting thrown out. I fought like crazy and Kaiser finally ended up sending me from Atlanta to Michigan where the most experienced doc was. He was awesome, like night and day in the OR. Things went perfect!!!

sorry that was so long, but I will not let someone that has only done something one time try on me.


Vickymm,
My surgeon for the hip replacement was so correct about me. My bones were extremely soft and my femur did fracture in surgery. I was upgraded to osteoporosis by my endocrinologist.

Judy
 
Hi....I am Karen and had a hip resurface. I am 64 and had
it done two years ago by a doctor who has been doing them
for 20 years. I did the surgery because it was bone conserving and the research i did, led me to believe that the hip joint would load more naturally and there would be
less put on the front of the femur. I was happy with my
doctor and my surgery. I was a poor candidate for the surgery because of my age and i have osteoporosis and am
post menopausal and a woman and one with a big mourth... smile...but everyone makes there own choice. I have taken four people to various doctors and here in LA. and some had a THR and others had a resurface....each one turned out fine and some took longer than others. I
think that all types of surgery should be explored and make
sure you have an experienced doc and do your research. I
would only god to a hip doctor who did or offered more than one procedure because than i think he is not so biased for one or the other. Just my 2 cents Karen
 
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