Modern Hip Surgery Provides Speedy Recovery

Traditional hip replacements are being replaced with a minimally-invasive technique that is less painful, provides a faster recovery and a shortened hospital stay.

Those three factors are what convinced John Neff to get the surgery.

?Medical technology has just gone through the roof,? said Neff.

Neff retired in December 2011 after running his own business for 30 years in Colorado Springs.

?My hip has really been bothering me from climbing ladders and things. It?s very painful,? he said.

Neff?s cardiologist recommended Dr. Edward Szuszczewicz of Front Range Orthopaedics for the surgery. He?s been performing minimally-invasive hip replacements for six years. He is one of four doctors in Colorado who actual do this procedure.

?It?s really starting to catch on because we?re getting good at short and long term results,? he said.

A surgeon from Australia even flew out the day of Neff?s surgery to watch and learn.

?I really think this is going to be the way hip surgery is done in the future,? said Szuszczewicz.

One of the major differences between minimally invasive hip replacement and traditional hip surgery is the incision length.

?We make a two to three-inch incision rather than a six-to-eight inch,? said Szuszczewicz.

The incision is made on the front of the hip bone. Surgeons take the front of the capsule out, then cut and remove the ball from the socket and replace it with an artificial cup, said Dr. Szuszczewicz.

The surgery takes an hour and a-half and most patients are able to walk the same day.

?We?re getting people back to work a week or two out from surgery for desk jobs and manual laborers are back a month in a-half to two months after surgery,? said Dr. Szuszczewicz.

Neff was able to walk up stairs after his surgery.

?I was a great feeling, it really was,? said Neff.

Neff will have a couple weeks of physical therapy, use a walker and cane to assist him in walking, and should be fully recovered in three months.

For more information at minimal-invasive hip surgery, visit http://www.fro.com.