Mi­ni­mally In­va­sive Hip Replacement
AMIS Method

If you have per­sis­tent pain in your hip that does not subs­ide de­spite con­ser­va­tive tre­at­ments such as phy­sio­the­rapy, pain­kil­lers, and in­jec­tions, a hip re­pla­ce­ment may be ne­ces­sary. Ty­pi­cal si­gns in­clude pain when wal­king, clim­bing stairs, or even du­ring rest pe­ri­ods, which si­gni­fi­cantly im­pairs your qua­lity of life. A tho­rough dia­gno­sis will help de­ter­mine the ne­ces­sity of a hip replacement.

The AMIS me­thod en­ables a gentle im­plan­ta­tion of a hip re­pla­ce­ment, as no mus­cles, ten­dons, or ner­ves are cut du­ring this pro­ce­dure. This leads to less post­ope­ra­tive pain, a fas­ter re­co­very, and a quicker re­turn to nor­mal ac­ti­vi­ties. In ad­di­tion, the risk of com­pli­ca­ti­ons is re­du­ced, and re­ha­bi­li­ta­tion is ge­ne­rally much fas­ter than with con­ven­tio­nal procedures.

He­al­ing af­ter hip sur­gery va­ries in­di­vi­du­ally, but most pa­ti­ents can walk lar­gely nor­mally and ma­nage their ever­y­day li­ves again af­ter 6 to 12 weeks. Ho­we­ver, a full re­co­very, in­clu­ding a re­turn to sport­ing ac­ti­vi­ties, can take 6 months to a year. The he­al­ing pro­cess is sup­ported by tar­ge­ted physiotherapy.

With the AMIS me­thod, the re­co­very time can be shorter; of­ten, pa­ti­ents can re­sume their ever­y­day li­ves af­ter just a few weeks. Ho­we­ver, a full re­co­very, in­clu­ding a re­turn to sport­ing ac­ti­vi­ties, can take se­ve­ral months. An in­di­vi­du­ally tail­o­red re­ha­bi­li­ta­tion plan con­tri­bu­tes si­gni­fi­cantly to op­ti­mi­zing healing.

As with any sur­gery, hip sur­gery also car­ries cer­tain risks. These in­clude in­fec­tions, blood clots, pro­sthe­tic loo­sening or dis­pla­ce­ment, and in rare ca­ses, nerve da­mage. Ho­we­ver, by using the AMIS me­thod and state-of-the-art sur­gi­cal tech­ni­ques, many of these risks can be mi­ni­mi­zed. Tho­rough pre-ope­ra­tive con­sul­ta­tion helps to dis­cuss and mi­ti­gate in­di­vi­dual risks.

Good pre­pa­ra­tion for hip sur­gery is cru­cial for the suc­cess of the pro­ce­dure. This in­cludes op­ti­mi­zing your phy­si­cal fit­ness th­rough tar­ge­ted exer­ci­ses that pro­mote mus­cle buil­ding. Ad­jus­ting your home en­vi­ron­ment can also be hel­pful to fa­ci­li­tate re­co­very af­ter the ope­ra­tion. Fur­ther­more, you should un­dergo all ne­ces­sary preli­mi­nary ex­ami­na­ti­ons and con­sul­ta­ti­ons to op­ti­mally plan the procedure.

Thanks to the AMIS me­thod, many pa­ti­ents can be­gin light ac­ti­vi­ties just a few weeks af­ter sur­gery. Ho­we­ver, the exact ti­ming de­pends on in­di­vi­dual fac­tors, in­clu­ding your ge­ne­ral he­alth sta­tus and the he­al­ing pro­cess. Sports ac­ti­vi­ties such as swim­ming, cy­cling, or Nor­dic wal­king are usually pos­si­ble again af­ter a few months, while more in­ten­sive ac­ti­vi­ties should be in­tro­du­ced gradually.

Yes, af­ter a full re­co­very, you can re­sume sports ac­ti­vi­ties. The AMIS me­thod sup­ports a quick re­turn to sports ac­ti­vi­ties as it spa­res the mus­cles and sur­roun­ding tis­sue. It is re­com­men­ded to start with gentle sports such as swim­ming or cy­cling and gra­du­ally work your way up to more in­ten­sive ac­ti­vi­ties like ten­nis or skiing.

It is re­com­men­ded to wait ap­pro­xi­m­ately 6 to 8 weeks af­ter hip re­pla­ce­ment sur­gery be­fore be­co­ming se­xu­ally ac­tive again. This pe­riod al­lows the ope­ra­ted joint to sta­bi­lize and pro­mo­tes he­al­ing. Du­ring this phase, it is im­portant to be cau­tious and avoid po­si­ti­ons that could ex­ces­si­vely strain or twist the hip joint.

Mo­dern hip pro­s­the­ses are de­si­gned to last for many ye­ars, of­ten de­ca­des. The life­span of a pro­sthe­sis de­pends on se­ve­ral fac­tors, in­clu­ding the pa­ti­en­t’s phy­si­cal ac­ti­vity, the ma­te­ri­als used, and the exact im­plan­ta­tion tech­ni­que. Re­gu­lar fol­low-up ex­ami­na­ti­ons help to mo­ni­tor the func­tion of the pro­sthe­sis and, if ne­ces­sary, take ti­mely me­a­su­res to ex­tend its lifespan.

Hip joint sur­gery ty­pi­cally lasts bet­ween 60 and 90 mi­nu­tes, de­pen­ding on the com­ple­xity of the pro­ce­dure and the cho­sen sur­gi­cal tech­ni­que. With mi­ni­mally in­va­sive me­thods such as the AMIS me­thod, the ope­ra­ting time may be shorter. The pre­pa­ra­tion time and post-ope­ra­tive care in the ope­ra­ting room ex­tend the to­tal time spent in the ope­ra­ting room to ap­pro­xi­m­ately 2 to 3 hours.

The choice of the best sea­son for hip sur­gery de­pends on per­so­nal pre­fe­ren­ces and life cir­cum­s­tances. Many pa­ti­ents pre­fer spring or autumn, as ex­treme wea­ther con­di­ti­ons are avo­ided and he­al­ing ta­kes place in a plea­sant en­vi­ron­ment. The avai­la­bi­lity of re­ha­bi­li­ta­tion pro­grams and the op­por­tu­nity to move out­doors also play a role in the decision.

It is pos­si­ble to re­place both hip joints in a sin­gle pro­ce­dure, but this de­pends on your ge­ne­ral he­alth con­di­tion and the com­ple­xity of the sur­gery. This de­cis­ion is made in­di­vi­du­ally, with the risks and be­ne­fits carefully weig­hed. One ad­van­tage is that the pa­ti­ent only has to un­dergo one sur­gery and one re­ha­bi­li­ta­tion process.