What are the benefits of having a hip replacement through an anterior approach?
The benefits of performing a hip replacement through an anterior approach include those I mentioned earlier with respect to improving a patients quality of life, but goes a few steps further. By simply pushing the muscles in the front of the hip aside, not detaching them like we used from a posterior approach, there is minimal muscle trauma. By not causing trauma to the muscles about the hip, it allows for a much faster recovery with less pain. Secondly, by not detaching the muscles from the back of the hip we reduce the risk of patients dislocating their hip after surgery. Lastly, we are able to obtain better leg lengths as well. One of the most common complaints after a hip replacement is that the leg with the replaced hip is longer. This is due to a lot of reasons. Some are due to patient’s anatomy, some are due to technical aspects of the surgery. When a patient is on their side for a posterior approach, their pelvis is not perfectly level and it is difficult to measure the patient
