New hip replacement surgery cuts pain, recovery time

A new surgical procedure being performed in Cape Girardeau can lessen the recovery time for patients after a hip replacement surgery.

James D. Niswonger, 59, has had two hip replacement surgeries -- one using the newest method and the other using the more traditional.

Twenty days after his surgery at St. Francis Medical Center, Niswonger can walk unassisted by a cane. It took him 45 days before he quit using a walker or cane after his first hip replacement surgery in 2002.

The new surgery, called a Zimmer minimally invasive solutions-2 incision, offers quicker recovery and less pain. Locally, the surgery is performed by Dr. William Kapp, an orthopaedic surgeon.

The newer method of surgery uses only two small incisions, which measure less than 2 inches each, to replace the traditional 10- to 14-inch incision in a traditional hip replacement surgery.

For Niswonger, the difference was amazing.

The smaller incision means less recovery time because the surgeon separates the muscle instead of cutting it. Kapp can access the hip and fit the replacement components into place using smaller instruments and video equipment.

Niswonger knew that the new surgery was an option to consider. "I had heard that they were starting it and I held off as long as I could so they could use the new surgery," he said.

With the Zimmer procedure, Niswonger said he didn't lose as much blood and wasn't as sore because the doctor didn't cut through as much muscle as had been the case on his last replacement surgery.

"Five days after the surgery I wasn't really even using the walker," he said. Physical therapy is an important part of the recovery, too, he added.

Though he can walk without the aid of a cane, he still uses it occasionally. "It gives you a comfort feeling if you're afraid you might fall."

But even the day after the surgery, he was able to bear his entire weight, 190 pounds, on his new hip joint.

More than half of all hip replacement patients are candidates for the new surgical procedure, Kapp said. To qualify, patients must possess a strong bone density and have no deformities.