New hip surgery gets thumbs up
EDITOR’S NOTE: This article follows Wednesday’s story about anterior hip replacement surgeries at Penticton Regional Hospital. It is part of the “PRH: Making A Difference” series of articles appearing daily in the Penticton Herald until Nov. 3, highlighting our hospital as it moves towards the opening of its new patient care tower in the spring of 2019.
Being able to climb the 15 steps at her home, less than 24 hours after undergoing hip replacement surgery at Penticton Regional Hospital, had Lesley Steffen beaming.
Steffen was among the first local patients to benefit from a different approach to hip surgery, now being performed by Dr. Tim Bell at Penticton Regional Hospital. Bell is the first surgeon in B.C. to perform anterior surgery, in which the hip joint is accessed from the front, rather than the side or rear as done in more traditional hip replacements.
“We have 15 stairs in our house. I was up 15 stairs and in my own bed in less than 24 hours (after surgery),” she recalled. “I just think that’s incredible.”
Much less invasive than traditional hip replacements, anterior surgery doesn’t require the surgeon to cut muscles surrounding the hip joint. Instead they are temporarily pulled apart to allow the surgery to proceed.
Steffen went under the knife on her right hip on July 11, being just the second Penticton patient to undergo the anterior surgery.
“I felt very comfortable and confident with Dr. Bell. If he wanted to do it a better way, that was good. I never had any apprehension at all,” she said
Most patients are discharged from hospital within 24 hours — one patient was released just eight hours after surgery — instead of three or four days later.
Patients also don’t face as many “precautions” during the six-week post-op recovery period.
“For a minimum of six weeks (after traditional hip replacement surgery), you shouldn’t bend over, you need to sit on a chair of a certain height, and that type of thing,” Steffen said.
Not so after anterior surgery. Not only could Steffen climb her home’s stairs, but three weeks after surgery she stopped using her cane. More than three months later, her new hip feels great. Now, due to the quicker recovery period, she’s already on the waiting list for surgery on her left hip.
“I’m thrilled. I tell everybody who stops long enough to listen to me how great it is that Penticton has Dr. Bell.”
Steffen’s comments are echoed by Paula Dane, who underwent anterior hip replacement in September.
Dane, who retired as a registered nurse at PRH in 2013, said her surgery also went well. She said when Dr. Bell told her there were no post-operative restrictions during the recovery period, she was sold on the anterior approach.
“He said: ‘No restrictions,’ and I said: ‘I’m in!’” Dane recalled with a smile.
Dane said as a former RN, she was aware of anterior hip replacements, but was still a bit nervous in the days prior to surgery.
“In the end, I just thought it all through. I was excited, but calm. You trust the doctors,” she said.
Dr. Bell has now performed anterior hip replacement surgery 20 times since starting in July. He predicts it will soon become much more common across Canada, after growing more popular in the U.S. in recent years.
PRH is currently undergoing a $312-million expansion and the South Okanagan Similkameen Medical Foundation is raising $20 million to provide the medical equipment required. To donate, contact the SOS Medical Foundation at 250-492-9027 or visit our website sosmedicalfoundation.com.