New Hip Gives Golfer New Game
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With the discomfort and pain I was experiencing in my left hip, I knew that in order to have the quality, active life to which I was accustomed, it was time to take steps to achieve it. On the advice of a friend, I visited with Dr. Zehr and was very confident that I had the right surgeon. Dr. Zehr and his staff were always helpful, warm, optimistic and encouraging about the entire process. Within seven weeks I was on the golf course enjoying my favorite activity. My golfing "buddies" could not believe the difference in my mobility. In fact, my scores improved greatly, much to their dismay!"
- Patricia Roy
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Better Living Now
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Better Living Now offers advice from select physicians in Southwest Florida. The 90-second video clips and online Q & A can provide you with a quick reference to some of the more common questions we receive here at ZCO.
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Seminar Online
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There are no live seminars scheduled, but we want to remind you that the entire educational seminar "Joint Arthritis - What's New, What Works" is available for viewing online, either in its entirety or in segments.
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Greetings!
 I'm not really advocating hip surgery as a method of improving your golf game. Nor can I guarantee that hip surgery will take strokes off your score! But many of my patients are golfers...and for many of them, it was the pain they experienced during play that motivated them to seek relief.
Any time your quality of life is impacted by joint pain, it's time to look at relieving that pain, because living with pain isn't really living!
Sincerely,
Robert J. Zehr, M.D. |
Improvements in Hip Surgery
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 Most avid golfers who have undergone hip replacement surgery consider themselves extremely fortunate to play 18 holes again. Three months after anterior approach hip replacement, Tom Watson returned to professional tournament golf. Six months later, the 59-year-old finished tied for the lead in regulation play of the 2009 British Open. Just nine months before the British Open, Watson's hip was so painful he couldn't sleep, let alone competitively play on an 18-hole course. The winner of eight major championships, Watson had a severely limited range of motion that had adversely affected his game. "Hip rotation drives the golf swing," Watson explained in an article extolling the virtues of the procedure, "And the anterior approach is the way to go for hip replacement surgery."
 Joint replacement surgery has improved rapidly. Hip replacement surgery, in particular, has benefited from technology. Patients like Patricia Roy (her story, left) can usually get back into the swing of things much sooner with the direct anterior approach to hip surgery. This minimally invasive surgical technique during which the surgeon approaches the hip joint from the front of the body provides four distinct benefits to the patient:
- A faster recovery - walking the same day as surgery, full recovery
 possible in as little as four weeks - Less pain - muscles are pushed aside, not cut
- Less restrictive - no limitation on the bending of the hip
- More accurate - use of specialized x-ray machine allows surgeon to make adjustments immediately
This surgical approach is not typically taught in orthopaedic residency training, so few surgeons are experienced with it unless they spend time with a surgeon who is. Fewer than 5% of orthopaedic surgeons nationwide use it. It requires a steep learning curve and a skill set not readily available to the inexperienced surgeon. Since adopting this approach as my preferred and primary method of hip replacement surgery three years ago, I have completed over 500 direct anterior approach hip replacement surgeries.
The success of the surgery is enhanced by using a special table with robotic function. The HANA™ table holds and turns the patient and lower  extremity precisely as needed, giving the surgeon better access and limiting soft tissue trauma. A patient is positioned lying flat on their back with both legs stretched out on carbon fiber spars, which support the legs and can move appropriately to manipulate the operated leg into various positions required during surgery. This positioning is the key to this anterior approach as it allows the use of live time X-ray guidance during the surgery to assess the position of the artificial hip components and allow for a more accurate measurement of leg lengths at the time of surgery. Additionally, the table has a sterile motorized robotic attachment that reaches inside the wound and lifts the femur to an accessible position, which is the most difficult part of the anterior approach without this unique device.
On my website you can read more about this specialized table, which I use exclusively for my direct anterior approach hip replacement surgeries; view an animation of the procedure using the table; or even watch a video of an actual hip surgery performed by Dr. Joel Matta who designed the table. It was Dr. Matta who replaced Tom Watson's hip in 2009 using the direct anterior approach.
I can't guarantee you will golf like Tom Watson, but I can guarantee you it is the best approach!
Image via The Virginian-Pilot
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Thank You from ZCO
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 I have once again been named one of America's Most Compassionate Doctors by PatientsChoice.org. Of the nation's 870,000 active physicians, only 3% were accorded this honor by their patients in 2012. The award recognizes "faithful service to patients" as determined by online patient ratings. I have received at least 33% more patient evaluations upon which to base this award than any other orthopaedic surgeon in the Southwest Florida area. Thank you for taking the time to provide feedback on the care you received at Zehr Center for Orthopaedics. It is an honor to serve you.
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