News

First for WA with new approach to hip replacements

Nov 14, 2019

A 58-year-old Edgewater grandfather-of-two has become the first person in Western Australia to have a hip replacement performed by a surgeon who used a robot to guide the replacement joint through front of the hip, instead of the back or side.

Dean Wakefield, a gooseberry farmer who started having hip pain three years ago, underwent the procedure today at Joondalup Health Campus.

Mr Murray Blythe, a fellowship trained orthopaedic surgeon with special interests in hip and knee replacements, performed the procedure on his patient alongside leading robotic surgery expert Mr Arash Taheri.

“With the Direct Anterior Approach the incision in made on the front of the hip and we don’t cut any tendons or muscles to access the joint” Mr Blythe said.

“The addition of robot-assisted technology allows for greater accuracy with placement of the joint replacement.”

Mr Taheri described the minimally invasive, muscle-saving procedure as one of the newer approaches to total hip replacements.

“It’s now fairly widely used worldwide and on the east coast, but in WA using robot-assisted technology to go into the hip socket from the front has not been done before,” he said.

“A specific CT scan of the patient was taken before the operation and a 3D model is created – we then used computer technology to plan exactly where the implant is going to go. This allowed us to then be guided by the robot in theatre, to execute the procedure to the same level of accuracy as planned.”

He said traditional non-robotic surgery in hip replacement is performed using simple 2D x-ray templates and involving fairly rudimentary intra-operative measurements, relying heavily on the surgeon’s judgement and experience. “Robot-guided replacement enables you get the perfect orientation with the hip socket every case, enhanced hip biomechanics and has improved recovery time.”

“In this case today, we achieved the hip replacement within one millimetre accuracy, so from that perspective, it was an unqualified success.”

“We’ll now be keen to see now how his recovery progresses and will be closely monitoring a number of key clinical measures before he goes home. The results are key.”

“From our national and international colleagues we know that this approach normally results in patients walking more comfortably in the first few weeks after the operation – and usually they are back to walking unaided within days instead of weeks.”

As for Dean, he’s looking forward to getting back to business and family. “I have a share in a hydroponic farm where I grow gooseberries and it was becoming really difficult to work with the pain I was in – even simple things like getting in and out of the car had started to take a toll,” he said.

“I’m just really looking forward to getting home and being able play with the grandkids without being in constant pain.”