March 17, 2008

SIU Surgeon Uses New Technique for Hip Replacement at

Springfield Hospitals

Patients in central and southern Illinois requiring hip replacement surgery can now benefit from a new technique which can minimize pain and reduce recovery time.

Dr. D. Gordon Allan, associate professor and chair of the orthopaedic surgery division at Southern Illinois University (SIU) School of Medicine, is using a new front, or anterior, approach. This means a surgeon can reach the hip joint from the front of the hip rather than using a side or back (lateral or posterior) approach.

"I have performed this procedure in 35 patients and so far have been extremely pleased with the results,” said Allan.  “The real difference comes in the reduction of pain for patients and their recovery time.”

The new technique is possible because of a new hana™ table.  Both St. John’s Hospital and Memorial Medical Center in Springfield started providing the table in their operating rooms in the fall of 2007.  The table means the physician can better position the leg, placing it in different positions not possible with conventional operating tables.

Using the anterior approach during surgery means the hip can be replaced without needing to detach a patient’s muscle from the pelvis or femur.  The surgeon can work through the natural spaces between the muscles.

"The patient’s most important muscles for hip function, the gluteal muscles, are left undisturbed in this anterior approach technique,” explained Allan.  "That means these large muscles do not have to heal after the surgery.”

In addition to less muscle trauma, the patient has a smaller incision of 4 to 5 inches rather than the standard 10 to 12 inches.  As a result, patients are expected to have shorter hospital stays and faster recoveries of two to eight weeks rather than two to four months and eventually, return to normal activities more quickly.  Other benefits, which will vary among patients, can include reduced pain, reduced blood loss and less chance of a hip dislocation.

Allan joined the faculty at SIU School of Medicine in 1990 and was named chair of the orthopaedics and rehabilitation division and director of the orthopaedic surgery residency program in 1996.  He completed a clinical fellowship in reconstructive and allograft surgery and a musculoskeletal oncology fellowship at the University Toronto (1990, 1989).  He completed his orthopaedic surgery residency, an orthopaedic teaching fellowship, medical degree and bachelor’s degree at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada (1988, 1988, 1983, 1981).

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