Informed - Parma Community General Hospital

Forecast: Sunny days, blue skies after new hip
Well-known weatherman
Brad Sussman looked forward to
his hip replacement with sheer
enthusiasm, knowing he faced a
faster recovery than he had following
a joint replacement nine
years ago.
Seeking the least invasive option
possible, Sussman chose Dr.
Larry Lika of Southwest Orthopaedics
for the anterior approach to
minimally invasive hip replacement.
“I was blown away by the difference,”
said Sussman, whose
first hip replacement nearly a decade
ago had been state-of-theart
at the time. “This is absolutely
the way to go.”
In 20 years of practice, Dr.
Lika has had many patients who
have experienced the posterior
approach on one hip and the
anterior approach on the other
side. With the anterior approach,
the surgeon reaches the hip from
the front of the joint between
two muscles, rather than cutting
4
through muscle and reattaching
it. The hip ball and socket are
removed and replaced, through
small incisions, limiting post-operative
discomfort.
“Minimally invasive doesn’t just
mean a smaller incision,” says Dr.
Lika. “It also means that you’re
not destroying all the muscle and
tissue below it, which is where the
pain comes in.”
Sussman was standing and
walking the day after surgery and
went home from Parma Hospital
three days later.
“There is a day and night difference,”
says Dr. Lika, whose
patients come to the office two
weeks after surgery without a
cane or a walker.
Parma Hospital’s Joint Camp
has earned the Gold Seal of Approval
for health care quality
from the Joint Commission. For a
referral to one of the orthopedic
surgeons on the Parma Hospital
Medical Staff, call 440-743-4900.
Therapy strengthens new hips
Less than three weeks after surgery to replace
his hip, Brad Sussman was cycling on a
stationary bike and doing squats and side leg
raises.
While these exercises took place under the
watchful eye of physical therapist Mike Scharf,
they would have been difficult to even imagine
doing so soon after his first hip replacement, a
traditional surgery over nine years earlier.
Physical therapy with trained specialists is
advised to ensure proper post-surgical care of
the new joint. As patients who have undergone
a traditional
hip replacement
can
attest, they
must be very
careful not Less pain
to bend past
Shorter
90 degrees
hospital stay
and to sleep
with a pillow
between
their knees
to avoid
Benefits of a
minimally invasive
hip replacement:
Fewer precautions
restricting movement
Much quicker
return to normal
activities