Arthritis charity to fund first UK laboratory investigation into popular new hip resurfacing technique
A team of team of orthopaedic surgeons and bioengineers in Bradford, Glasgow and Newport are to carry out the first major laboratory study in the UK of the new hip resurfacing technique used on younger, more active patients.
Metal on metal hip resurfacing is an alternative to total hip replacement surgery for younger people. It is becoming increasingly popular, and already accounts for between five and ten per cent of all the 40,000 plus hip replacement operations in the UK.
But although in the short-term hip resurfacing seems to offer a viable surgical option for more active patients, not much is known about its long-term success.
Now a team led by Professor Zhongmin Jin, senior lecturer at the school of engineering at the University of Bradford, orthopaedic surgeon Peter Grigoris, at the Western Infirmary in Glasgow, and orthopaedic surgeon Paul Roberts at the Royal Gwent Hospital in Newport, has been awarded to £73,740 by the Arthritis Research Campaign (arc) to carry out a two-year laboratory investigation to find out more abut how hip resurfacing functions.
The team will develop a 3-D computer model of the surgical procedure, which should enable surgeons to decide which patients should be selected for hip resurfacing because of the condition of their bones, and to develop better fixation methods and surgical procedures. The team intend to produce guidelines for surgeons, and recommendations to manufacturers to improve implant design.
"At the moment, hip resurfacing is approved for younger patients under the age of 65 who are fairly active," explained Professor Jin. "But the current guidelines are too vague, and we don't really know who is best suited to having this type of surgery instead of a total hip replacement. Much of current thinking is informed by belief rather than by science - which is where we come in."
In a hip replacement operation, the ball and socket of the joint as well as a large part of the thigh bone is removed. In hip resurfacing, the ball of the joint is simply reshaped rather than being removed, to make it easier to replace if needed in the future.
