Innovative Surgical Technique Speeds Patient Recovery and Reduces Post-Operative Pain

As Baby Boomers are getting older — but aren't necessarily slowing down — hip replacement surgery is becoming more and more common. Each year in the U.S., nearly 350,000 patients per year undergo the procedure, and experts say that number is growing because life expectancy is going up and people are remaining physically active longer than did previous generations.

Unfortunately, total hip replacement surgery typically knocks patients off their feet for months due to its invasive nature. But one local surgeon is attempting to break with this tradition by using a remarkable new technique that reduces the length of the surgical incision by as much as 75%.

"Patients benefit tremendously from the reduction in the length of the incision," explains Dr. Peter Lammens of Panorama Orthopedics & Spine Center, "A smaller incision means less cutting of soft tissue — that means there's less pain, a shorter hospital stay and a faster return to normal activity. It gets them back on their feet instead of flat on their back."

Dr. Lammens uses a new set of surgical instruments recently developed by medical device manufacturer Smith & Nephew, and he is among the ten-percent of U.S. surgeons who are performing this mini-incision technique.

During hip replacement surgery, the surgeon removes the top portion of the femur, replacing it with a metal stem with a ball on one end. He also removes the hip socket in the pelvis, replacing it with a metal shell and plastic liner. The ball rotates inside this plastic liner to recreate the ball and socket movement of the original joint.

In traditional hip surgery, the incision is between eight and twelve inches long. Using the new instrumentation, Dr. Lammens is able to perform the operation through an incision as small as three inches.

"There are obvious cosmetic advantages to this mini-incision approach," says Dr. Lammens. "But as a surgeon, I like the fact that my patients are able to reclaim their physically active lives so much faster than expected. I believe this will eventually be the standard of care in orthopedic medicine, and it's nice to be able to bring this advanced surgery to local patients now."

Minimally Invasive Surgery Video: Coming Soon!