Navigating Hip Pain: Insights on Outpatient Hip Replacement

Coping with chronic hip pain can be a daily struggle because it often limits a person’s regular activities and affects their overall quality of life. As more people stay active into old age and obesity rates increase, hip pain is becoming increasingly common across all age groups. If you, or someone you love is suffering from hip pain, you will be glad to know Fremont is home to one of America’s 50 Best Hospitals for Outpatient Orthopedic Surgery and America’s 50 Best Hospitals for Outpatient Joint Replacement according to Healthgrades. An expert from the Hospital is set to share his knowledge and advice for people who suffer with pain in one or both hips.

On Thursday, June 6, at 3 p.m. Dr. Bryant Bonner, a board-certified and fellowship-trained hip and knee specialist from Washington Hospital’s Institute for Joint Restoration and Research (IJRR) and Sah Orthopaedic Associates will present a live online seminar titled, “Updated Treatment for Hip Pain and Arthritis.” In his presentation, Dr. Bonner will cover the causes of hip pain, methods for diagnosing hip conditions, and the latest advancements in hip pain treatments. He will also discuss when hip replacement becomes necessary and share new advancements that have helped facilitate outpatient hip replacement and can allow patients to go home just a few hours after surgery. To watch Dr. Bonner’s presentation on Facebook, sign in to your account then go to Facebook.com/ WashingtonHosp. Or you can watch it without an account at YouTube.com/whhsInHealth. If you cannot watch it live, the seminar will be available beginning the next day on YouTube.

Hip Conditions and How They Are Diagnosed

“Many of the patients we see at the IJRR for hip pain have either arthritis, labrum damage, or a combination of both,” said Dr. Bonner. “These conditions can be caused by regular wear and tear with age, or from hip dysplasia that many people do not realize they were born with until they get older.” The labrum is the cartilage that lines the hip socket in which the head of the thigh bone sits. Hip dysplasia occurs when the hip joint has not developed properly and the socket is too shallow. Later in life, hip dysplasia can damage the labrum and also make the joint more susceptible to osteoarthritis.

According to Dr. Bonner, X-ray imaging and a physical examination are the first steps to diagnosing the cause of hip pain. “Oftentimes, people complaining of ‘hip pain’ will point to areas on their lower back, buttocks, or the side of their hip, which often indicates the pain is not originating in the hip socket. When the pain and discomfort is identified to be in the groin area, and sometimes radiating down to the knee or in the buttocks, that is a more definitive sign of ball and socket issues.” While X-rays may not demonstrate much, if there are any signs of arthritis, such as joint space narrowing or bone spurs, an MRI is sometimes needed to examine the soft tissue structures.

Treatments and Surgery

“We always look first to nonoperative treatments such as physical therapy, medications, or steroid injections which can be effective in helping alleviate hip pain. However, when there are underlying structural issues, these therapies may just be managing the symptoms, and surgery is ultimately needed to fix or reverse the condition.”

In his June 6 seminar, Dr. Bonner will discuss how recent advancements in medical technology and techniques have greatly improved postoperative recovery time, pain management and patient satisfaction with new hip joints. In the past, patients receiving total hip joint replacements had to stay in the hospital for five to seven days, but now most patients go home the day of the surgery or the next day. Dr. Bonner and his colleague Alexander Sah, MD, are renowned for furthering groundbreaking surgical techniques including the use of robotic-assisted joint replacement surgery and direct anterior hip replacement. This minimally invasive approach has the significant advantage of not cutting muscle, but instead going between natural muscle planes, which is proven to shorten recovery time.

Originally from Sacramento, Dr. Bonner is an industry-leading orthopedic surgeon who was educated at Harvard Medical School. He specializes in robotic surgery and minimally invasive hip and knee replacements, as well as complex and revision joint replacements. To learn more about Dr. Bonner or the Institute for Joint Restoration and Research at Washington Hospital, go to whhs.com/IJRR