brace against the patient's
thigh to stabilize the joint
during surgery and main-
tain the leg's range of
motion. "We came up
with something a little
simpler and more effec-
tive," says Ms. Rose.
Help for hips
Surgeons must be able to
see into a joint that is tradi-
tionally compacted. "You
need to have access to the
joint's various compart-
ments, and you need to use
traction when working
inside the joint," says Dr.
Lubowitz. "But too much
traction can lead to nerve injury, so you want to be able to adjust the trac-
tion when working on the compartments of the hip that are outside the
central joint."
The posterior approach to replace hips involves cutting some mus-
cles and tendons, which are re-paired at the conclusion of the proce-
dure and heal afterward. "Although complications are rare following
this approach, cutting of the muscles and tendons can weaken the
joint area and 1 to 2% of patients suffer posterior dislocation," says
Dr. Lubowitz. "There's been a recent movement toward use of ante-
rior approach, which lowers the risk of dislocation quite a bit."
A U G U S T 2 0 1 8 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y. N E T • 8 3
• ON THE TABLE Attachments used during knee replacements must stabilize
the leg and let the surgeon adjust the flex of the knee.
