THE DIRECT SUPERIOR APPROACH: 60 TIMES LESS MUSCLE DAMAGE, AND A GIANT LEAP FOR HIP-REPLACEMENT INDUSTRY (PALM SPRINGS) - Like walking on the moon, the development of the Direct Superior Approach to hip replacement wasnt an easy journey - but ultimately one thats rewriting history. When pioneer surgeon Douglas J. Roger began the development of the technique, even the tools didnt exist. Dr. Roger worked with a bio-mechanical engineering company to design and patent a half dozen curved retractors, angled reamers and other instruments that he believed would result in less pain, faster recovery and fewer complications. The result? A giant step for surgeons, and a giant leap for patients. According to a 2011 article in Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research, the average post-operative Harris Hip Score was 96.5 -- there were no dislocations, no sciatic nerve palsies, no wound complications and low transfusion rates. Following development of the instrumentation, Dr. Roger began collaborating with Dr. Anthony Hedley of the Hedley Institute in Phoenix, AZ. Today, surgeons from around the nation have studied -- and are duplicating -- his technique. This includes surgeons from the University of California at San Francisco, the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN, and Washington University in St. Louis, MO. Another relatively new minimally-invasive approach to hip replacement that has gained popularity over the past decade is the Direct Anterior Approach, but its success pale in comparison to the Direct Superior Approach. In 2014, an assessment of the two approaches was done by an independent evaluator from the Mayo Clinic, and the findings showed that the Direct Superior Approach produced 60 times less muscle damage during the surgery compared to the Direct Anterior Approach. A NATIONALLY RENOWNED INDUSTRY LEADER, Dr. Roger is the Director of Joint Replacements at Desert Regional Medical Center. Desert Regional Medical Center has received Joint Replacement Certification by the Joint Commission and is rated as one of America’s 100 Best in Joint Replacement by Healthgrades. For more information about the hospital’s joint replacement services, contact the Institute of Clinical Orthopedics and Neurosciences at (760) 416-4511. To discover more about Dr. Roger, visit douglasrogermd/
Posted on: Fri, 12 Sep 2014 12:53:39 +0000