A Modified Direct Lateral Approach for THA

A Modified Direct Lateral Approach for THA

http://icjr.net/article_72_lateral_modified.htm#.U1Qadfl5M1A

A Modified Direct Lateral Approach for THA

Modifying the lateral approach to total hip arthroplasty spares soft tissue and bone in line with tissue-sparing surgery criteria and allows precise prosthesis implantation that preserves normal biomechanics.

By F. Pipino - March 31, 2014

Authors

F. Pipino, M. Cimmino, and A. Palermo

Introduction

Tissue-sparing surgery (TSS) is the philosophy of respecting soft tissue and bone whenever possible. We believe that obtaining good functional and clinical results in prosthetic hip surgery requires a balance between the need for correct implant positioning and the need to respect tissues.

For this reason, we proposed a modification of the classical direct lateral access procedure that can be used with the patient lying in the supine or lateral position [1]. Our modification preserves the anatomical integrity of the gluteus medius, which facilitates step-by-step visualization of the surgical anatomy; we have used it to implant more than 2,000 hip prostheses since 1990.