Saint Joseph Mercy Health System in LIvingston has performed its first outpatient total hip replacement surgery, which enables patients to return home the same day as their surgery.
“St. Joe’s is on the leading edge of a growing trend in orthopedic surgery requiring less and less recovery time for these surgeries,” says Dr. G. Victor Gibson, D.O., an orthopedic surgeon with Saint Joseph Mercy, who performed the first surgery. “It’s really exciting to see how improved techniques and technology over the past 15 years have reduced patient hospital stays from a week down to eight hours.”
Gibson says minimally invasive surgery techniques do not damage the tendon or muscle, resulting in less pain for patients and the ability to walk sooner following surgery. He says in some cases, patients may be able to start outpatient physical therapy services immediately.
Candidates for this outpatient surgery are patients with no underlying major disease and average body weight. Patients will be evaluated on a case by case basis.
