BY JOHN HENREHAN/myfoxdc
November 10, 2010 - GAITHERSBURG, Md. - More than a quarter million Americans a year undergo hip replacement surgery. With traditional surgery, the patient is generally told to limit mobility for six to eight weeks.
A new generation of surgeons, however, is practicing "minimally invasive" hip replacement surgery. Recovery is far quicker. But to perform that kind of surgery, it's necessary to manipulate the patient's body during the operation. That's where the Hana [Operating] Table comes in.
Dr. Sri Durbhakula, an orthopedic surgeon at Shady Grove Adventist Hospital, demonstrated the table for us. The patient's feet are placed in what look like ski boots. A series of levers, dials, and lifts permits the doctor to move the unconscious patient's body in a variety of ways. That allows for smaller cuts during the operation.
"You have less muscle cutting," explained Dr. Durbhakula, "less destabilization of the hip, [and] less bleeding, which leads to improved recovery with less pain."
80-year old John Villforth had a hip replacement operation on a Hana Table on October 13th. He now reports "zero pain" in his new left hip. Villforth was up and walking less than a week after the surgery.
The Hana Tables cost about $100,000 each.
In the Washington, D.C. area, it's believed only two hospitals are using them for hip replacement surgery: Shady Grove Adventist in Gaithersburg, Md. and Inova Mt. Vernon Hospital in Fairfax County, Virginia.
