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resurfacing and natural gait

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prairienut

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Hello, I am investigating resurfacing in case I need to have my 2nd hip fixed in the future. I have seen among the list of advantages of resurfacing is that it preserves a normal gait. Does anyone out there know why this would be an advantage of resurfacing over other procedures? I asked this on another forum, but am also putting the question here because this is a more lively forum. I love the Bonesmarties! Thanks for any info.
Gail
 
This (unless more studies have been published) is a theoretical advantage of resurfacing and makes intuitive sense for simple osteoarthritis. For dysplasia with coxa vara or coxa valga, it makes a lot less sense. Presumably, the axis of the femoral neck would remain intact and takes some guesswork out for the surgeon. If your femoral neck has a "normal" angle, then there you go!

I had seen a paper mentioned on this site last year by Michael Mont (East Coast re-surfacing expert). I did read it and it was interesting, but was a TINY study with very subjective measurements and never made it to publication (it was an abstract presented at a local meeting) so I have no idea whether it is rigorous or not. It suggested restoration of natural gait was better with resurfacing.

Sorry I don't know more, but I hope that helps!
 
Interesting, Gail--haven't heard of that. I'll be curious to see the responses. Perhaps it's listed as a "benefit" rather than an "advantage" (which is neutral and doesn't imply superiority)?
 
Haven't seen any evidence of poor gait with THRs, either personally or in publication.
 
Jo, That's what I thought. I was surprised to see the claim on another forum (unsubstantiated of course). Probably another example of wishful thinking or just hype. It's really important to sort out the real issues from the invented ones. There are plenty of both. Thanks as always for your wise words.
Gail
 
Unfortunately, Gail....it's easy for people to make unsubstantiated or weakly supported claims online. You are very wise to do research from a variety of sources and then make your own decision.

All I would say is that OUR hip replacement folks walk (and bike and ski and sometimes even run) just fine, thank you. And so do our resurfaced folks. So it seems to me this is not much of an issue.
 
Hi Dave, Just saw your comment after I responded to Jo. Yes, it makes sense that the angle must be correct for a natural gait, and a resurfacing does not change the angle. I just know that my gait is perfect at 3 months following a THR so wondered what was up. Many issues seem to go back to selecting an expert, experienced surgeon regardless of which procedure is done.
Gail
 
Many issues seem to go back to selecting an expert, experienced surgeon regardless of which procedure is done.
Gail

Amen, sister!

People at work keep telling me how I walk "normal" now. I suppose since I walked like Quasimoto before, it would be hard not to improve substantially!
 
There is an article on the surfachippy.info site about a small study (15 THRs and 15 resurfaced) that compared gaits after at least one year of recovery. The subjects were matched for age and sex. This study showed generally better gaits among the resurfaced people. The doctors running the study could not explain why and they felt the topic needed further investigation. Bottom line, this is an interesting result, but not conclusive.
Gail
 
Here's another site, if you click on 5 weeks you will see Dr. Mont talk about gait and the differences he has seen in his patients, he does a lot of both procedures, THR's and resurfacings.

broken link removed: https://hipresurfacinginfo.com/featured_story2.html

I like to think of my walk prior to my surgery as sort of a Charlie Chaplin, Penguin like walk. (smile) It's of course normal now, I had hip resurfacing done.

HipPain
 
I had a slight but noticeable limp prior to resurfacing. 7 months post-op I still feel a little stiff, especially if I've been sitting for any length of time, but I, nor my wife and friends can not detect anything other than a completely normal gait.
 
Thanks for the replies everyone. I am not convinced that gait is a big differentiator for resurfacing. In my view bone preservation and natural femur loading are much more significant factors.
Gail
 
My gait was right on within a few weeks from each of my two resurfacings. It is still perfect after 3 years. I don't even think about my hips, they are so natural. As a former ballet dancer, I know what a good gait is.

I had a great doc, Dr. Gross to thank for this.

Hollie
 
Can't help you with the science, but I can tell you that once the healing progressed far enough, I walk perfectly normally.

No one could detect I had a resurfacing procedure done.
 
Thanks for the additional posts. I have a THR and have a perfectly normal gait at this point. Everyone I know that has had either a resurfacing or THR has a normal gait. It appears that both procedures are effective in this respect. The science at this point is inconclusive. So as I have said before, I won't be using gait as a factor in my decision to have a resurfacing vs. THR. There are plenty of other more important factors to consider.
Gail
 
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