Source - Tampa Bay Times
Ann Elias knew something was wrong when her much-loved tennis games produced more pain than pleasure. X-rays showed the source of her discomfort — enough damage to her hip joint to warrant hip replacement surgery. But the 71-year-old put it off for more than two years after friends shared frightening stories about the long, painful recovery from hip surgery done in the conventional way, through an incision made on the back side of the body.
For instance, with the anterior approach there is less danger of the new ball joint popping out of its socket in the six weeks or so after surgery. "Medicare estimates that 2 to 3 percent of all (hip replacement) patients nationally have dislocation" with the standard surgery, Cooper said. "With anterior, it's 0.2 percent."