Friday, March 1, 2013

An Overview On Minimally Invasive Hip Replacement Surgery

In a world where change is rampant, it is important to keep up with that phase. As technology moves forward and the demands and needs of people varies greatly, it is vital to create something to cater to these necessities. In the medical world, this surely has been answered in the case of hip replacement surgery. Now, there is minimally invasive surgery (MIS) in which surgeons may operate with more accuracy and a lesser amount of injury to the body.

This procedure started about five years ago when a team of surgeons in the US developed a new method of opening the natural hip joint through a smaller cut on the skin and with less muscle trauma. The soft tissue
damage caused in showing the natural hip and implanting an artificial replacement was not as much of the traditional operation. They found that patients seemed to have lesser pain after this surgery and were also able to improve the use of the operated part faster and as a result, left hospital earlier when compared with patients who had undergone a traditional hip replacement surgery.

The surgical operation itself is the same with somewhat less soft-tissue dissection. A single minimally invasive hip incision may measure only three to six inches. Relatively, two-incision hip replacement involves a two-to-three inch incision over the groin for placement of the socket and a one-to-two inch incision over the buttock for placement of the stem.

The advantage of this minimally invasive surgery is a smaller amount of injury to the body. There is reduced trauma to the deep muscle tissues and underlying structure of the hip through some fundamental approaches, for instance, MIS-2 incision. A shorter hospital stay – one to two days (rather than three to five days) with some patients able to go home in less than 24 hours, leading to faster rehabilitation. And because of this, there is the possibility of a quicker return to work and daily routines.

But these advantages do not mean that minimally invasive surgery is free from risks and complications. Some problems that may occur are blood clots, fractures, leg length discrepancy, muscle damage, component malposition, skin and muscle damage, and superficial nerve injuries among others. In addition, most surgeons will still restrict the patient for six weeks after the surgery.

On the other hand, not all patients are suitable for this kind of operation. At times it may become necessary to convert a MIS approach to a traditional one during the operation. There is no scientific evidence yet of a specific advantage in the long term with the MIS hip over that carried out in the traditional way.

If you think that you may be a candidate for this kind of procedure, talk to your doctor about this. Meanwhile, traditional hip replacement still has its own list of complications. There have been reports about its patients suffering from some form of a rare condition called metallosis. If you want to read more about hip replacement and its complications, visit http://www.stryker-hip-replacement-recall.com/



Sources:

bonesmart.org/hip/advantages-of-minimally-invasive-surgery-for-hip-replacement/
evertsmith.com/treatment/minimally-invasive-hip-surgery/