April 4, 2012
Page 8B The Kings Mountain Herald | www.kmherald.net
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BACK ON HIS FEET
Anterior hip replacement gers Tony Sosches moving again
By PAULA VESS
Regional Marketing Group
SHELBY - Tony Sosebee is a
53-year-old man who enjoys his
job as a machinist, and loves
spending time working in his
garden and yard. About two
years ago, he began having some
pain in his hips and gradually,
it became more difficult to do all
the things he enjoys.
The hip joint is one of the
body’s largest joints. It is
made up of a ball (the top of
the thighbone), that fits into a
socket (part of the large pelvis
bone). The hip joint helps carry
the body’s weight and plays a
strategic role in activities that
involve standing, bending,
twisting, and of course, walking.
Hip pain can make any of those
movements difficult, which can
make ordinary tasks painful and
difficult to perform.
“I put off doing anything for a
while, but it got so bad I couldn’
walk anymore,” said Sosebee.
“Last summer it was so bad I
couldn’t even get on the riding
lawnmower. My wife had to cut
the grass.”
He needed a total hip joint
replacement, and he’s not
alone. More than 200,000 total
hip replacements take place
in the United States each
year, according to the Joint
Implant Surgery and Research
Foundation.
“The thought of going into
surgery scared me to death,”
said Sosebee, But it was worth
it. “Within less than a week I
was walking without crutches or
anything. I woke up with no pain.”
Although the most common
cause of hip pain and joint
replacement is osteoarthritis, a
common form of arthritis, Sosebee’s
pain was caused by a condition
called osteonecrosis. It occurs
when part of the bone doesn’t
get enough blood and the bone
dies. Osteonecrosis occurs most
commonly in the hip and shoulder.
+ “I never knew when I stepped
down on it whether the sharp
pain would be there,” said
Sosebee, “but within two or three
steps I knew I was going to have
it. And I never knew if I was
Dr. Friedman uses a
model to demonstrate
how the hip joint is
able to move freely after
the anterior approach
hip replacement surgery.
PHOTO BY PAULA VESS Ee
“Within less than a
week I was walking
without crutches or
anything. I woke up
with no pain.”
- Tony Sosebee
PHOTO BY PAULA VESS
One day after anterior hip replacement
surgery Tony Sosebee walks the halls on the
Joint Academy unit at Cleveland Regional
Medical Center.
going to fall on my face.”
In January, Jacob Friedman,
MD, an orthopaedic surgeon
at Cleveland Regional Medical
Center, replaced Sosebee’s
right hip using an anterior
(front) approach or incision:
Traditionally, hip replacement
surgery has involved an incision
on the side or the back of the hip.
The anterior approach is not a
new technique. It has been used
in Europe for decades and in the
U.S. for about 15 years.
“Regardless of the approach,”
said Dr. Friedman, “at the end
of the day you still get a hip
replacement, but there are some
benefits of using the anterior
Dr. Friedman
approach compared to the more
traditional methods of hip
replacement surgery.”
Perhaps the biggest advantage
to the anterior approach is that
the most important muscles
involved in the function of
the hip are left intact. During
traditional hip replacement
surgery those muscles, the
gluteal muscles, are detached
from the bones.
Using the anterior approach to
the surgery, “we don’t cut any of
the muscles off the bones,” said
Friedman. “We just spread them
apart while we do the surgery.”
Leaving these muscles intact
means no healing time needed for
the muscles to repair themselves.
That shortens overall recovery
time, and means the patient has
no movement restrictions when
they leave the hospital.
The traditional method, where
the muscles were cut, meant at
least six weeks of very restricted
movement. “With the traditional
hip replacement surgery we'd tell
patients don’t bend this way, or
twist that way, don’t turn your
leg a certain way or don’t sleep
on your side,” said Friedman.
“Not having to do all that is a
huge benefit for the patient. Now,
we just say live your normal life
and you'll be fine.”
Before his surgery, Sosebee was
forced to use a walker. “I was on
a walker, and instead of moving
one leg I was moving both legs at
one time, sitting them down, and
moving the walker. Literally, I got
up after the surgery and walked.”
- Another benefit of the anterior
method is that the placement of
the incision and its length, four
inches compared to a traditional
“At. a year, everyone
generally does great from hip
replacements, but for those
first few weeks the recovery
(from the anterior approach
surgery) seems faster,” said
Friedman. “Alot of people ~
just seem to get « over it
quicker, so the overall pace of
recovery is better.”
length of 6 — 10 inches, cause :
less pain after surgery. There are
also benefits during the surgery.
“Because we're doing the
. surgery from the front, we have
the patient lying on their back
rather than their side, and
that gives us more options with
anesthesia,” said Friedman. “It
also gives us more ability to use
X-rays during surgery, which
means we can fit the parts back
to your natural anatomy better.”
This can reduce problems
with instability and leg length
inequality, which commonly occur
after hip replacement surgery.
“At a year, everyone
generally does great from hip
replacements, but for those first
few weeks the recovery (from.
the anterior approach surgery)
seems faster,” said Friedman. “A
lot of people just seem to get over
it quicker, so the overall pate of
recovery is better.” -
For Tony Sosebee, recovery has
gone so well that he has decided
to have his left hip replaced right
away. “I'm looking forward to
having this one done and getting
on with my life. I Juss wish I'd
had it done sooner.”
ABOUT THE PHYSICIAN:
* Dr. Friedman is currently serving
as chairman of the Department
of Surgery at CRMC. He is board
certified in orthopaedic surgery by
the American Board of Orthopaedic
Surgery, and is a fellow of the
American Academy of Orthopaedic
Surgeons. He received his medical
degree from Albert Einstein College of
Medicine in New York, and completed . °
his orthopaedic surgery training at
Tulane University Medical Center in
New Orleans.
WATCH VIDEO:
Watch interviews with Tony
Sosebee and Dr. Friedman on
YouTube at www.youtube.com/
user/CCHealthSystem. And
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