Hip Replacement Is Now Easier and Better
Although we are not at the point where the bionics of the $6 million man of the 1970s TV show is a reality, you might be surprised to see what doctors can do these days to replace parts of the human body. Health correspondent Dr. Emily Senay explains.
The joints in the human body withstand a lot of constant pressure over a lifetime. And it's not surprising that they wear out. But now with minimally invasive surgery, replacing them with artificial joints is easier than ever. One of the most common surgeries is hip replacement.
Jet engine technician Dane Glisan knows the pain of a worn-out hip all too well. "It would absolutely kill me to crawl in the cockpit to run the airplane," says Glisan. "In order to get your leg that high it was extremely painful, and about that time that was when I made the decision to go ahead and have it replaced."
Dr. James Wenz of Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center in Baltimore implanted a steel artificial hip in Glisan, and it's almost as good as the hip he was born with. "These prostheses are made of a special type of steel," says Wenz. "The only thing the artificial joint does is try to come close to recreating what the natural hip does."
Wenz says that usually people are able to get back a significant amount of their motion. "We're able to often restore them back to the level where they can have a satisfactory life," says Wenz.
What used to be a major operation is now becoming less and less invasive, with much less damage to the muscle, allowing for a quicker recovery.
"This is a typical incision we used to use, this is 8 inches in length, and we did a lot more muscle disruption and disruption of the soft tissues. Whereas now, the incision is much smaller," says Wenz, comparing the surgical procedure then and now.
Glisan was up and about in a matter of days after his surgery. "I went to sleep and I woke up, and I felt fine," says Glisan. "There was no more pain. It was just--somebody turned off a light switch: There was absolutely no more pain. I felt fine."
Four months later, he has returned to a fully active life again. "I can run now, I can walk, and I can go out here and walk indefinitely," says Glisan. I can go down into a crouch or a squat and stay there until my knees say that's enough. It's so much better. I'm a happier person, to be perfectly honest with you."
Unfortunately, artificial hips are prone to wearing out just like natural hips. The same pressures create wear and tear in the socket. A lot of progress with hips in recent years has been made in the durability of the hip with advances in the types of plastics and ceramics used in the parts that rub against each other.
What's the next step for the development of artificial joints?
The ideal is biologic resurfacing, meaning being able to replace the worn-out tissue with new tissue instead of with metal and plastic or metal and metal.
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