Anterior Approach Hip Replacement

A patient considering anterior hip replacement surgery.

Anterior approach hip replacement. The advantage is thought to be that rehabilitation can proceed more quickly by not having to allow the reattached muscle to heal. But it also be used to replace hips with any type of damage. See post surgical hip replacement precautions and tips. The anterior approach hip replacement is a muscle splitting approach meaning that the surgeon gets to the hip between two muscles rather than by removing and then reattaching a muscle.

Total hip arthroplasty is a common surgery with more than 330 000 procedures performed in the united states every year. Within 6 weeks you ll likely be able to do most of your normal activities. Total hip replacement recovery will start with physical therapy in the hospital and will continue once you go home. These surgeries may also be called mini modified minimally invasive or muscle sparing surgeries.

Anterior hip replacement ahr is surgery to replace a hip joint damaged by wear injury or disease. The top of your femur is shaped like a ball and covered with cartilage. The joint is held together by ligaments and muscles. The hip joint is where the top of your femur thigh bone sits in the socket of your pelvic bone.

The anterior approach sometimes called the mini anterior approach or muscle sparing hip replacement has been used to some degree since the 1980s. While research is limited many studies seem to suggest that the risk of damage to the major nerves near the hip in particular the sciatic nerve is lower with the anterior approach than with the traditional approaches. The direct anterior approach is performed by a relatively small minority of surgeons performing hip replacement. Immediately after hip replacement surgery a patient is given a list of precautions certain movements and activities that should be avoided in order to protect the new hip s ball and socket from injury particularly dislocation unlike other types of hip replacements anterior hip replacements require few if any precautions.

A total hip replacement is a type of surgery. 5 7 this is because the sciatic nerve runs behind the hip joint so it is not exposed when using the anterior approach. The anterior approach is most often used when arthritis is the reason for a hip replacement. Total hip replacement with anterior approach refers to surgeries done from in front of the hip.

This is largely due to the fact that this approach has only gained popularity in the last 10 years primarily due to more active patients wanting a less invasive technique allowing for a quicker recover. However it was the introduction of new instrumentation allowing it to be performed using smaller incisions that has increasingly made it a viable alternative to the more popular posterior approach. It replaces your hip joint with an artificial one.