Anterior Hip Replacement Surgery

Soothing Sore Hips

Hip pain - whether from arthritis or injury — can limit activity and diminish quality of life. Fortunately, when other treatments don’t help, hip replacement surgery can provide relief.

At Alta Bates Summit, a new, minimally invasive anterior hip replacement technique is an option for some patients. Traditional hip surgery is done through the buttock muscles and tendons to get to the hip joint. With the new anterior procedure, the surgeon inserts the hip prosthesis through a small incision at the front of the hip, where there are no muscles and tendons to cut through—and that means quicker recovery.

According to Alta Bates Summit orthopedic surgeons, there’s less pain after surgery, no restrictive precautions and patients can start walking without assistance in two to three weeks, versus five or six weeks. Also, long-term, there’s a lower risk of hip dislocation. In most cases, patients get back to their lives very quickly.

The Story of a Very Hip Lifestyle

...repeated from 'Community Connections'

When 56-year-old Fred first noticed a little pain in his left hip six years ago, he did what many people do - He tried to ignore it. But for someone as on the move as Fred—a retired Berkeley firefighter who practices martial arts, rides a motorcycle, and guides fly-fishing trips—ignoring the pain was easier said than done. “When I’d get off my motorcycle, I was limping,” Fred says. “And walking on rocks and uneven ground was bothering me. It was really starting to affect my way of life and I wasn’t happy about it.”

Fred remembered that a friend who plays basketball had undergone minimally invasive hip replacement surgery using an anterior approach with great results. “My buddy was up and walking the next day, and he was up and down stairs with no cane within the first week,” Fred says. “So I thought, ‘Yeah, that could work for me.’ ”

Fred visited Christopher Chen, M.D. to learn more. Dr. Chen answered all of his questions, and Fred thought the procedure sounded promising, so after careful thought, he scheduled the surgery. It went flawlessly, and Fred says he was surprised to notice an improvement the day of his surgery. “When I got up and started walking, I felt no discomfort in my hip,” he recalls. “It was just my thigh that was uncomfortable [from small surgical incisions that had been made].”

Today, Fred is back to his old tricks. “The hip is not an issue anymore,” he says happily. “I’m playing tennis and doing all kinds of stuff that I haven’t done in years. I’m just a kid again!”

Ask your doctor if anterior hip replacement surgery is right for you. To select an Alta Bates Summit physician, go to our Find A Doctor tool and select your preferences.