News

New procedure to replace the total hip replacement

November 27, 2006

By Nicole Oliverio

Ray Pettersen of Stuart sifted through personal photographs the night before his surgery. He used to be very active. He snorkeled, swam, and hiked. But what he loves and misses the most is walking.

"Nowadays that would be the joy for me, to be able to walk," said Pettersen.

An arthritic condition forces this 59-year old to walk with a limp and a cane.

"The pain just got worse and worse. so, I got to a point where I don't want to be jumping around on one leg anymore," he said.

Pettersen needs a new hip, but he's going a different route. He is one of very few people to undergo a "hip resurfacing procedure."

"This feels more natural than a total hip. It has better range of motion. It has better stability and it will tolerate, I believe, impact activities like a total hip may not," said Doctor Abbott Kagan, an orthopedic surgeon.

Dr. Kagan performed the surgery last week in Fort Myers. He "shaved" and "capped" part of Pettersen's hip bone.

"Which is truly more like a dentist might put a cap on your tooth," said Kagan.

But this "cap" and bone conserving method could be a better alternative than replacing the entire hip.

"Anytime you're removing a lot of bone and putting stuff back, there's always the chance that something might not be exactly the way it was. With this, it's more possible to get it exactly the way it was before, or very very close," said Kagan.

Kagan says in the past, total hip replacement surgery was done to relieve pain. Now he's seeing more and more patients like Pettersen who not only want the pain to go away but their quality of life to come back.

"I'll be real glad when i can get back on my foot," said Pettersen.

Get back on his feet, and get back to hiking and swimming.

Right now, there are fewer than 200 doctors across the country who can perform the surgery. Doctor Kagan is one of only a handful in Florida.

He says, while the surgery is new to the United States, hospitals in Europe have been offering this surgery for the past decade.

Patients must have excellent bone quality to receive the procedure.