Hip Resurfacing Gives Hope to Aging Athlete

Richard Rose of Sugarloaf, New York, had been playing competitive handball for more than thirty years. So when he began to develop arthritis in his left hip joint, he suspected he was about to pay the price for his energetic lifestyle. After extensive tests, Richard’s doctor recommended a hip replacement. While this promised to end his pain and restore his mobility, it was likely to put an end to his sports activities.

At the age of 57, Richard wasn’t ready to hang up his athletic shoes, so he scoured the Internet for another alternative. Then a new and promising procedure caught his attention. “It was called hip resurfacing,” he recalls, “and it seemed to be the perfect solution for my active lifestyle.” Only a few orthopedic surgeons were currently performing this cutting-edge procedure, among them Dr. David Feldman of Englewood Hospital and Medical Center. 

As a founding member of the Society for the Advancement of Blood Management, Dr. Feldman specializes in minimally invasive techniques for patients requiring reconstruction of the hip. In an effort to improve on the inherent limitations of traditional hip replacements, he pioneered an innovative metal on metal procedure that is already being used with great success at Englewood Hospital and Medical Center.

Instead of removing the head of the patient’s femur and replacing the hip socket with a plastic prosthesis screwed into the bone, the resurfacing technique retains the patient’s own hip ball and simply covers it with a metal sheath. The hip socket is also lined with metal in order to give it a smooth and pain-free gliding surface.   

“The advantage of the resurfacing technique,” explains Dr. Feldman, “is that it provides a more reliable and more long-term solution for younger patients who wish to enjoy a more physically active lifestyle.”   
Much to his surprise, Richard was ready to go home just two days after his procedure. “I felt 10 years younger,” he recalls, “the pain was gone and I was able to bounce back in a matter of weeks. Richard continues to remain active, both at work and on the handball court, winning his first tournament exactly one year following his surgery.  He is so pleased with his results, he is planning to have Dr. Feldman repeat the procedure on his deteriorating right hip this coming spring.  

“Because Englewood Hospital and Medical Center is a teaching hospital, we are able to take part in many FDA approved studies and pioneer a variety of innovative and leading edge procedures,” notes Dr. Feldman. “As a surgeon, I’m proud to be on the forefront of this revolution.”