Wow, everyone should go this route!

As I've posted here before, I did extensive research before having my hip replaced.

And that research pointed me in the direction of seeking out a surgeon who would perform the "anterior approach."

Now, my reasons for making that choice were based on my history of fibromyalgia.  Since the bursa are trigger points for fibro, I felt that the incision should stay away from that part of my body. (As one doctor put it -- why fix one problem and give me another?)

The more I looked into it, the more I was convinced that I should stick to my decision.  My gut just told me I was on the right track (as did my physiotherapist and my massage therapist -- based on my history).

And of course, since I have fibromyalgia and the surgery would be an assault anyway, I figured we should try to minimize the damage as much as we could.   As it was, the flare-up I suffered was minimal, in the scheme of things, only delaying my rehab by a couple of days.

If it weren't for my insistence that my surgery be done by anterior approach, my hip would have been replaced last July.  But I chose to wait. (There are only two doctors in Ottawa who are trained in the procedure.)

Turns out I was righter than I realized!

This morning, I was poking around trying to see if I could find an indication of just how long I have to be a couch potato (haven't found it yet -- I got side tracked), and I came across the following information:

"An increase has occurred in the number of hip replacements performed through the anterior surgical approach.  Among the advantages of this procedure is the fact that it is minimally invasive, preserving the hip musculature; the posterior approach, in contrast, involves the detachment of the posterior hip rotator muscles and the mobilization of the gluteus medius muscle.  With the anterior approach, the risk for hip dislocation is reduced.  The patient has almost no restriction of physical activity during the postoperative period.  Less tissue injury and, subsequently, less pain occur. In addition, recovery is faster." (WebMD Professional)

So, this brings to mind one burning question.

Why doesn't everyone who needs this surgery have it done using the anterior approach?

If more people insist on the procedure, more surgeons will train for it.