Hip Resurfacing Surgery

Hip Replacement Surgery or Hip Resurfacing may be indicated when conservative treatments fail for hip arthritis.  The figure below compares a normal hip to a hip with severe arthritis.

With Total Hip Replacement, the entire femoral head is removed.  A new ball and socket is placed.  The new hip ball is attached to a stem which gets machined inside the hip bone.  Hip Replacements can wear out over time.  The average hip replacement traditionally lasts 15-20 years, but younger patients can wear it out much sooner.  If the hip replacement wears out, more bone may need to be removed to revise it. 

Alternatively, a Hip Resurfacing is bone conserving.  Instead of cutting the ball off, it is just "capped" with metal.  The longevity of Hip Resurfacings is very promising, especially in the younger patients who prematurely wear out their hip replacements.   If the Hip Resurfacing ever wears out it can be changed to a first time Hip Replacement.

Hip Resurfacing Surgery is typically indicated for treatment of hip arthritis in patients under 60 or in more active older patients.  Visit your surgeon to see if you may be a Resurfacing candidate! 

Computer Assisted Surgery (CAS)

What is CAS: The principle of CAS is straightforward. A similarity can be drawn between CAS to assist with surgery and GPS to assist with route planning. Both provide a means for getting to the next stage, ie analytical and process-based assistance to provide information that allows better decision-making. There is a GPRS system (similar to a GPRS satellite) that tracks the entire limb and bone via optical sensors that the surgeon places on the bone. The GPRS system sends the observed information to a Computer that can then accurately plan the surgical procedure.

In CAS, a digital model is produced that serves as a map for each particular procedure. The image is then made available to surgeons to guide them through the operation. Dedicated surgical instruments can be incorporated into the map so that their position, attitude and progress can be controlled and monitored to within a fraction of a millimetre or degree. CAS benefits surgeons by allowing them to make informed decisions at the right time during surgery, enabling use of minimally invasive surgery (MIS) and ensuring accurate positioning of knee and hip replacement components.

Summary of the benefits of CAS

• Assist with pre-operative planning
• Allow modification of the plan during the surgical procedure according to intra-operative findings
• Ensure surgical accuracy and consistency
• Shorten the time taken to perform procedures
• Decrease trauma to the patient, leading to quicker recovery
• Decrease long-term costs of treatment

Hip Resurfacing, Total Hip Replacement and Total Knee Replacement can be performed extremely accurately using CAS and this should translate into a far superior and longer-lasting result than conventional surgery.

Hip Resurfacing

The sequence of images below is self-explanatory. The damaged region of the hip socket is cleaned and formed to accept a cobalt chromium steel prosthestic socket. The ball of the femur is shaped as necessary and drilled to accept a new prosthetic cobalt chromium steel ball. There is no radical cutting off of the femur head. Hip Resurfacing is a much less invasive operation than Total Hip Replacement.