Anterior total hip replacement surgery

Posted on Nov. 14, 2012

KAET, Arizona PBS brings the operating room into viewer living rooms during The Latest Procedure: Anterior Total Hip Replacement Surgery.

Go inside the OR with orthopedic surgeon Dr. Ted Firestone, medical director of the Total Joint Replacement Center at Scottsdale Healthcare Shea. As he operates, he explains step-by-step this innovative approach currently used in approximately 20 percent of hip replacement surgeries nationally.

Pioneered by Dr. Joel Matta of Los Angeles, world-renowned pelvic fracture surgeon, the anterior hip replacement technique has meant less pain and fewer post-operative precautions for patients.

"This is the least invasive way to perform a total hip replacement because the muscles about the hip are spread rather than incised," said Dr. Firestone. "In my experience, patients undergoing anterior hip replacement versus the conventional posterior surgery leave the hospital a full day earlier."

Viewers not only scrub in with Dr. Firestone, but they get a bird's-eye view of the operation through a mini-cam strapped to the surgeon's head. Zooming out, they watch his play-by-play account of the surgery.

They also join him as he meets the patient, demonstrates surgical tools and provides a personal tour of the OR before surgery begins. Following surgery, Dr. Firestone takes viewers back to the patient's recovery room only three hours after the operation – and the audience walks with her down the hall!

For more information about joint replacement surgery at Scottsdale Healthcare, visit www.shc.org.