IF YOU NEED A HIP REPLACEMENT
ANTERIOR MINIMALLY INVASIVE SURGERY
SHOULD BE YOUR FIRST CHOICE
AMIS (Anterior Minimally Invasive Surgery in Total Hip Replacement)
What is minimally invasive surgery?
The surgeon can access the hip joint by different paths, following either a “conventional” surgical approach or a Minimally Invasive Surgical approach (MIS).
True Minimally Invasive Surgery is characterized by the preservation of muscles and tendons encountered during the surgery to the hip joint and offers a reduced skin incision.
AMIS is a true Minimally Invasive Surgery.
Other approaches advertised as minimally invasive (posterior, lateral or double incision) are only reduced skin incision techniques and are associated with the same muscle and/ or tendon injury as “conventional” approaches.
The AMIS approach is a true muscle-sparing surgical technique.
With the AMIS surgical approach the surgeon DOES NOT CUT MUSCLES, which aids a rapid recovery.
The AMIS approach is the only technique which follows inter-muscular and inter-nervous planes to reduce the risk of injury to muscles, tendons, vessels and nerves. It will cause less surgical trauma than other techniques because it does not cut muscles and does respect nerves.
For this reason AMIS is the ideal approach for atraumatic surgery which is fundamental for a fast recovery.
The AMIS technique had decreased the incidence of complications when compared to “conventional” techniques. AMIS is a surgical technique that will improve the quality of your life and hasten your recovery after a Total Hip Replacement (THR).
AMIS can potentially provide you with the following benefits over the conventional surgical approach:
- Smaller skin scar (only 6 to 8 cm)
- Reduced risk of limping
- Decreased post-operative pain
- Reduced risk of dislocation
- Shorter hospital stay
- Reduced blood loss
- Shorter rehabilitation
- Faster return to daily activities
Therefore, the AMIS technique should provide better results in the short and medium term and improved long term quality of life.
A word of caution that will help patients requiring a hip replacement find a doctor.
The AMIS technique is the state of the art in Total Hip Replacement. However, the AMIS technique is not an operation that should be done by every orthopaedic surgeon. It requires dedicated additional training and careful attention to detail. The learning curve is long. A high initial incidence of complications should be disclosed to the patient when offering this approach during a surgeon’s early experience. The potential benefits of this technique, although attractive to patients and surgeons, should be carefully evaluated against the potential complications when the procedure is performed by less experienced surgeons. For further information concerning minimally invasive hip replacement please check the specific page in "My Fields of Expertise".