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Newly replaced hip dislocated after 4 weeks.
Joint Replacements | Last Active: Sep 28, 2025 | Replies (47)Comment receiving replies
Agree completely own finding the right surgeon - for a hip or any other joint. What I look for:
1. A surgeon in their mid 30s to mid/late 40s. Why? They are still early in their career and very likely ambitious and current on the latest in replacement practice.
2. A surgeon with a good pedigree from a good med school and/or residency/fellowship. The best programs are very hard to get into. If a surgeon passes those hurdles, well it's a good sign they are very knowledgable, and have done their residency/fellowship under the best surgeons.
3. Once you've narrowed it down, look for references, and the number or procedures they have done. And to paraphrase your comment, all hip surgeons are not created equal. Older surgeons may only be comfortable with a posterior or lateral in incision. Unless they've done a lot on anteriors, look elsewhere. The anterior incision is the most challenging and imo requires the most talent.
4. Check references and reviews.
5. To prepare for the "down time" - I treated it psychologically as time off from the gym (I'm a 7x/week guy.). This advice is mostly for retired people, like me. But don't delay a surgery because you're concerned about "down time". Once therapy starts, that's your job.
6. If a joint replacement is inevitable, just get the surgery. Cortisone shots, gel shots are all band aids. Just do it. And a great surgeon will almost never recommend surgery. They present it as an option. Take it.
And that's about it. Steve mentions the SuperPATH method and I am unfamiliar with it, but it certainly sounds promising. The problem is that it is patented, so you may have trouble finding a hospital system willing to pay royalties for a relatively uncomplicated surgery, specifically referring to anterior.
Thanks Steve!
(FWIW I had my left shoulder replaced 7 weeks ago today. Surgeon is excellent. He did his fellowship and residency at the University of WI med school and associated Froedert Healthcare. Each year, UW only admits 6 students from across the world to its residency program. My shoulder guy met this hurdle, and he's just very good. And the recovery has gone better than expected!)
One last bit of advice - be in great shape ahead of the surgery, meaning normal weight, normal or close to normal body-fat percentage. This improves circulation, which in turn reduces inflammation and swelling. I dropped from 190 lbs to 155 lbs in one year, and took my PBF from 32% to 19%. Not easy, especially in my late 60s, but worth every moment spent.
Joe
Replies to "Agree completely own finding the right surgeon - for a hip or any other joint. What..."
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@heyjoe415 "And that's about it. Steve mentions the SuperPATH method and I am unfamiliar with it, but it certainly sounds promising. The problem is that it is patented, so you may have trouble finding a hospital system willing to pay royalties for a relatively uncomplicated surgery, specifically referring to anterior."
I don't think it is the patent costs. I suspect they are pretty minor compared to the total cost. The biggest problem is that hip surgery is complex and takes many years of practice to get really good at it. Once a practitioner learns a method, he usually doesn't want to learn another. For example, my brother and I are scheduled to have knee replacement surgery on the same day. His surgeon uses a tourniquet which causes considerable post surgical pain; my surgeon prescribed tranexamic acid to reduce bleeding and operates without a tournquet. Both doctors in my example are hip and knee surgeons. I was very surprised to read the other day that only 13% of knee surgeons use a robot. My surgeon, who works on the cutting edge of technology always uses a robotic assistant.
So I think it surgeon unwillingness to learn new methods and the time involved that stops more surgeons from using first anterior and now the supercapsulated methods.
I like your search criteria but I would slightly modify it. I would put less importance to where a surgeon went to school and did his fellowships. Being an academic high achiever doesn't necessarily make one good at other things (I was an academic high achiever going to the best law school but that doesn't mean I had the personality and skill to convince a jury that my position was correct). I would also modify your age criteria to move it slightly higher (say 40s and early fifties). You want the surgeon to have a lot of experience doing your type of surgery and that takes time.
Knowledgeable referrals also can be very helpful. A friend of mine needed should replacement surgery. My hip/knee surgeon was recovering from rotator cuff surgery (skateboarding) so I asked him who did his shoulder on the theory that a top rated surgeon would go to another equally skilled surgeon. He told me and I passed that info on to my friend. I was recently at my rheumatologist and he got a phone call and told me he had to take it because it was his wife and she was having her hip replaced the next day -- it was my surgeon (Jimmy Chow).
Greater Phoenix has a magazine that does annual doctor ratings based on other doctor responses. That has always been a good starting point for me.