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Minimally Invasive Joint Replacement

Dr. Jacobs is an expert in the area of minimally invasive hip replacement surgery. He
has experience with the many different types of minimally invasive surgery and continues
to work to develop more advanced techniques that will lead to even more rapid recovery
from a total hip replacement. It is important for potential patients to understand that the
terms minimally invasive can mean different things to different people. First of all, the
concept of minimally or less invasive surgery encompasses a comprehensive program
that includes preoperative evaluation and preparation, sophisticated anesthetic and pain management techniques, the surgical technique itself, and coordinated post operative rehabilitation. All of this is available through the Joint Experience Program at the Good
Samaritan Hospital in Baltimore where Dr. Jacobs is the Chief of Orthopedic Surgery. It
is also valuable to further describe some of the different aspects of the technical side of
minimally invasive surgery.

In the operating room there are less invasive techniques that involve one or two incisions.
The single incision anterior approach represents an improvement over the two incision
technique. It requires special instrumentation and the unique Hana operative table. The
advantage of these approaches is that they carry the same very low complication rates
as traditional primary total hip replacements but have the advantage of remarkably short rehabilitative times. This is the result of the fact that the surgical planes utilized with this
approach do not cut or violate any nerves or muscles. This drastically reduces pain and
the absence of muscle damage affords the patients immediate mobilization. As compared
to the two incision technique, there is a lower incidence of complications such as sensory
nerve damage at the incision line. Furthermore, improper implant sizing and malposition
of the components is avoided because of the improved visualization of the anatomy
afforded by the Hana table.