Patients having hip replacements through minimally invasive surgery can expect less pain, less blood loss and fewer complications than with a conventional operation.
In minimally invasive surgery (MIS) the surgeon makes just a tiny incision and does the operation using miniature instruments, guided by an optics system. MIS is fast becoming accepted for all kinds of operation, and the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons has been reviewing its application to hip replacement.

A group of 2,000 patients receiving a total hip replacement by MIS were followed. They were aged from 17 to 94 and weighed between 90 and 450 pounds. Overall, the results were judged satisfactory and compared well with what might be expected from a conventional hip replacement. The average operation time was just under one hour, and the incision about eight centimeters long. Complication rates were low - just 28 hip dislocations in the group, and 17 clinically significant blood clots (always a risk after surgery). Less blood was lost than during conventional surgery and hospital stays were shorter. This is good news for the patient, although MIS is still major surgery when applied to hip replacement. MIS is also being applied to other types of joint surgery, such as knee replacement, and the results also look very promising.