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Mercy's Dr. Joseph Ciotola Offers Patients New Anterior Approach to Hip Replacement, Means Less Pain, Faster Recovery

With thousands of baby boomers facing hip replacement, a new surgery promises less pain and less rehab. Olga Arnaud-Gerkens, 82, is recovering from a total hip replacement: "I'm doing famously well. We never thought I could recover so quickly," she said.

Arnaud-Gerkens is reaping the benefits of a new cutting-edge hip replacement surgery that doesn't cut any muscle.

Mercy Medical Center orthopedic surgeon Dr. Joseph Ciotola is the first surgeon in Baltimore City to offer the surgery, and he said it has many benefits for the patient.

"(It offers) faster recovery time, less pain, less tissue trauma, smaller incision and less risk of dislocation," he said.

The procedure is made possible by a special operating table called the Hana hip and knee arthroplasty table that is designed exclusively for hip and knee patients. The table allows the surgeon to replace the hip through a single front incision without detaching the muscle.

Arnaud-Gerkens said she had been dreading the restrictions of traditional surgery.

"They cannot bend past 90 degrees, (you) have to sleep with a pillow between your legs, you can't cross feet, can't touch toes. All those things are not an issue with the anterior approach," Ciotola said.

Arnaud-Gerkens said she never used her post-surgery morphine pain pump and she was driving in six weeks.

Dr. Ciotola said he expects most hip replacements will be done this way in about five years, but surgeons have to take time out of their busy schedules to learn to do it, and hospitals have to be willing to make the investment in the Hana table.

Dr. Ciotola said he believes that will happen once people start seeing the results.