Robotic-Assisted
Muscle-Sparing Total Hip Surgery
Minimally-invasive techniques lead to faster recovery
Muscle and tissue surround and support the hip joint. During hip replacement, your doctor has to get past that muscle and soft tissue to access the bones of the joint – either from the side, the back, or the front of your body. There are hip replacement techniques with smaller incisions, designed to minimize the impact on those tissues and muscles.
These kinds of surgeries are often referred to as muscle sparing or minimally invasive. Dr Head offers 2 different approaches to the hip. Below is how these two muscle-sparing approaches to surgery compare to each other, and to standard surgery.
Direct Superior Approach (DSA)
A smaller incision at the upper side of the hip helps the surgeon avoid cutting (and then reattaching) the key muscle group that enables you to walk and bend. That muscle group includes the IT band (or Iliotibial band) and the external rotators that connect your pelvis to your knee. Avoiding injury to that group of muscles and ligaments may potentially mean better hip stability and recovery
Direct Anterior Approach (DAA)
A smaller incision at the front of the hip leaves all of the muscle intact. Dr Head retracts the soft tissue aside to access the hip joint and perform the joint replacement, rather than detaching any tendons or muscle. This has the potential to make a big difference both during surgery and in recovery.
