A New Single-Incision,
Soft Tissue Sparing Approach to Total Hip Arthroplasty: A Case Report
John T. Williams, Jr., M.D.
Chairman, Adult Joint Reconstruction
Department of Orthopedics
Albert Einstein Medical Center
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Phillip S. Ragland, M.D.
Research Fellow
Department of Orthopedics
Albert Einstein Medical Center
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Over the past decade, the development of modified instrumentation and navigation assistance (permitting in-situ bone excision) have stimulated advances in minimally invasive total hip arthroplasty techniques. These techniques have been developed with an objective to reduce perioperative morbidity, hospitalization expenses, and total rehabilitation time. Furthermore, a concomitant increase in the promotion of these techniques by both industry and orthopaedic surgeons themselves has fueled patient demand. However, the most common minimally invasive techniques used require two incisions and either prevent or limit the surgeon's ability to directly visualize the bony structures of the hip. In this chapter, the authors present a case study that describes a single-incision, soft-tissue sparing, minimally invasive technique for total hip arthroplasty.