Randomized Comparison of Two Minimally Invasive Surgical Techniques of Hip Replacement

Minimally invasive surgery is replacing standard methods of doing surgery in many different kinds of operations. Minimally invasive surgery is done through smaller incisions and whenever possible it avoids cutting muscles and tendons. The result usually means quicker recovery and less postoperative pain. Vancouver Hospital has been a leader in developing minimally invasive techniques for hip replacement. It is the recommended procedure for healthy patients undergoing hip replacement.

There is a promising new method of doing minimally invasive hip surgery called the G3 or a modified Watson-Jones approach. It involves an anterolateral incision about 4 inches long and an intermuscular separation to expose the hip.  The incision is the same length, but the new technique is more muscle-sparing than the current standard approach. There is a possibility that using the G3 may further improve the results already obtained from minimally invasive methods.

In order to fairly evaluate the new technique we are asking patients who are candidates for primary hip replacement surgery to take part in a randomized study comparing the G3 to the standard minimally invasive surgery. Patients are assigned randomly to one approach or the other. After surgery, patients will not be told which method was used. This is a multi-centre study. Vancouver is the originating centre and members are Abbotsford Hospital, Mt Sinai Hospital (Toronto), Ottawa General, Hopital du Sacre-Coeur (Montreal), Montreal General, and University of Calgary.

We will ask participants to answer questions about pain and speed of recovery every month for 4 months. We will also measure the utilization of rehabilitation services, medications, time-lost-from-work and other costs associated with recovery. By conducting a blinded, randomized trial we will be able to draw accurate conclusions about the relative merits of the new G3 approach and make recommendations about adopting it as the new standard for patients who qualify for minimally invasive surgery.

Funding for this research comes from the Zimmer Company, a manufacturer of surgically implanted devices and instruments.

Please note: Recruitment for this study is now closed.

Web Links

Information about minimally invasive surgery

Information about orthopaedic surgery

Publications / Presentations

“Comparison of primary total hip replacements performed with a standard incision or a mini-incision” Steven Woolson, MD, Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, vol 86A, July 2004.