“Minimally Invasive” Total Hip Arthroplasty

“Minimally invasive” hip replacement was widely introduced to the orthopaedic community and public several years ago and has been greeted variably with enthusiasm, concern, and skepticism1. Enthusiasm has centered around the potential for quicker recovery, a better cosmetic result, and less perceived invasion of the body. Concern has focused on the potential for more complications, related to poorer operative visualization and the learning curve for new methods. Remarkably, despite widespread marketing of minimally invasive methods by companies and orthopaedic surgeons and much dissemination of information of varying accuracy by the lay press, little objective data quantifying the risks and benefits of these methods compared with traditional methods have been available. Early short-term follow-up studies suggested possible benefits of the techniques, but those investigations mostly involved selected patient populations and often were performed with modified pain management and rehabilitation protocols1.