Thanks to your hips, you can walk, run, jump, and more. They perform the critical jobs of supporting your upper body and helping your body stay balanced.
However, your hips endure a lot, too. Years of wear and tear can lead to arthritis and hip injuries or hip dysplasia (a condition where the joint’s socket doesn’t fully cover the ball). Previous hip surgery can also lead to someone needing a full hip replacement or arthroscopy.
However, there’s another hip-saving procedure available now that is also helping many people: the BIRMINGHAM HIP Resurfacing System (BHR).
When patients consult with Dr. Vasilios Mathews, the competent and caring orthopedic surgeon is able to offer both of these life-changing procedures, and he helps them determine which is best for them. As a board-certified orthopedics pro and knee and hip replacement expert, Dr. Mathews is known for his experience, commitment to excellence, and investment in his patients.
Hip wear and tear is inevitable, and when you lose cartilage (the shock-absorbing cushion between your hip joint’s ball and socket that allows your leg to move smoothly), you experience:
Dr. Mathews removes diseased tissue during a hip replacement and replaces it with a prosthetic hip joint.
The good news about hip replacement? It’s a frequently performed and highly perfected procedure. Additionally, Dr. Mathews performs many hip replacements to rectify earlier failed replacement surgeries.
Amazingly, Dr. Mathews performs minimally invasive hip replacements, which involve making just a single small incision—as opposed to larger ones, which are significantly more traumatic to the body. He then removes your rounded thighbone head and replaces it with an artificial one.
Minimally invasive procedures are associated with quicker recovery and reduced pain, bleeding, and scarring. Fortunately, hip replacement is now either an outpatient surgery or one in which you need to spend only one night at the hospital.
Hip resurfacing is an alternative procedure that’s a bit different from hip replacement. The targeted patient population is specifically younger, active men who live with conditions like osteoarthritis, dysplasia, rheumatoid arthritis, or avascular necrosis (bone tissue death linked to a lack of blood supply).
The critical difference between total hip replacement and hip resurfacing is that resurfacing doesn’t require that Dr. Mathews remove all the bone in your hip joint. Rather, he only needs to resurface a few centimeters of bone, so more of your joint is left intact.
Dr. Mathews determines whether a younger, active male patient is a candidate for resurfacing by examining specific factors, such as assessing the size of the femoral head (the ball) and the patient’s overall bone quality.
As we mentioned, during resurfacing, Dr. Mathews must only remove a bit of the bone surrounding your femoral head, which ensures that it fits snugly in the BHR implant. He then readies your acetabulum (your hip bone socket) for the metal cup that will serve as the hip socket.
Next, Dr. Mathews cements the top of your femoral head and properly places the acetabular component.
The femoral head is typically larger than the head of the prosthetic used in replacements, and this lessens the risk of future implant dislocation.
Hip resurfacing allows Dr. Mathews to preserve the femoral head and most of the neck, so patients are less likely to have problems related to different leg lengths.
Those who undergo resurfacing procedures can still be candidates for a traditional hip replacement if an implant needs replacing in the future, whereas those who receive a total hip replacement first must have the lengthier revision stem procedure performed.
After a decade of use, the lifespan of the BHR resurfacing implant for active men under age 65 is similar to and often exceeds that of traditional total hip replacement prostheses.
You can watch a short video about how hip replacement and resurfacing differ on our website.
If you’re an active younger man, talk to Dr. Mathews about whether a complete hip replacement or a resurfacing procedure is the best option for you. No matter which procedure he advises, you’re in the best hands when you trust Dr. Mathews’ care.
Contact our Houston office at 713-794-3548 to make an appointment and learn more, or book one online.
