A Wyoming man underwent a total hip replacement this morning, and walked out of the hospital this afternoon, thanks to a remarkable new outpatient procedure, offered in Utah for the first time.
Science Specialist Ed Yeates show us more.
Neil Anderson arrived at LDS Hospital about 6:30 this morning. What traditionally has been a painful, long, drawn-out surgery to replace his hip was something quite revolutionary.
NEIL ANDERSON, PATIENT: "IT JUST TICKLED ME BECAUSE I'VE BEEN WAITING TEN YEARS FOR THIS THING."
Neil was wheeled into surgery shortly after 7:00. In less than an hour. It was all over.
This afternoon, he was on his feet walking with the aid of crutches.
Neil got an artificial hip joint - this stainless steel ball which rotates inside a polyethaline cuff.
But it's the way the device was implanted which is so dramatic.
Dr. Kim Bertin makes only a three and a half inch incision. The operation takes 60-minutes or less.
And instead of up to a week in the hospital, the patient goes home that same day.
KIM BERTIN, M.D., ORTHOPEDIC SURGEON: "IT'S BEEN REMARKABLE TO SEE THESE PATIENTS GO HOME. I USUALLY CALL THEM THE NEXT DAY. THEY'LL TYPICALLY BE OUTSIDE THEIR HOUSE WALKING THE NEXT DAY."
ED YEATES, SCIENCE SPECIALIST: "60-YEAR-OLD DEAN CARLSTON WENT INTO THE HOSPITAL IN THE MORNING - WAS BACK ON HIS FEET BY TWO IN THE AFTERNOON, AND BY SIX O'CLOCK THAT NIGHT, HE WAS BACK HOME HERE IN HIS NEIGHBORHOOD IN LAYTON. NOW 16 DAYS LATER, HE'S READY TO GO BACK TO WORK."
He still uses crutches, but only to keep some weight off the implanted joint while it heals.
DEAN CARLSTON, PATIENT: "I NEVER THOUGHT THAT THIS WOULD BE POSSIBLE. (edit) I HAVE NOT HAD ANY PAIN SINCE I CAME OUT OF RECOVERY."
As for the joint itself, it's better too-- a new generation device which for a patient 40 or older could now be the only one he'll ever need.
July 3, 2002
