Mountaintop Medicine from Estes Park Health: EPH orthopedic surgeon offers anterior hip replacement

Darin Workman recently moved from Kansas to Colorado. The 59-year-old Estes Park man enjoys hiking and fishing, but pain in his hip has been keeping him from many of the activities he loves. He’s a retired tennis coach and music teacher who really wants to feel better.

“I’ve had lots of pain,” Workman said. “There’s just no cartilage there. It’s bone on bone.”

Workman turned to Estes Park Health orthopedic surgeon Dr. Gavin Bishop for help. Imaging confirmed what Darin was feeling, and he opted for a total hip replacement.

“He had significant arthritis in that joint,” Dr. Bishop explained. “He had been dealing with it for a long period of time and he tried everything he could prior to the surgery to make it manageable. He had made the decision that this was the next step for him. For someone who has a joint that has gotten to the end of its life, so to speak, and the cartilage has worn down, we’re replacing the surfaces with metal, plastic, and ceramic.”

Implants must be strong, stable, and inert.

Workman was a candidate for anterior hip replacement surgery, meaning the surgeon goes in from the front, a little less invasive approach.

“We don’t have to take the muscle off and reattach it like we do in other procedures, so the recovery tends to be a little bit easier from that standpoint,” Dr. Bishop noted.

The idea appealed to Workman.

“There’s less muscle that you go through and so you have less recovery, smaller scar, and so it’s not moving around as much stuff,” he said.

While he’s not planning on returning to the tennis court, Workman hopes the surgery will allow him to play pickleball and enjoy all the Rocky Mountains have to offer.

“We want to get back into hiking and getting into the park,” he added.

In a procedure that takes between two and two-and-half hours, Dr. Bishop heads up a large team of professionals for this major surgery.

He marks the surgical site and begins by making the incision and the moving muscle and other tissue out the way to expose the hip joint. Using drills and saws and many other tools, Dr. Bishop makes precise cuts to remove the ball of the hip joint and any damaged bone or cartilage in the socket.

Using a C-Arm, which is a portable x-ray device, the doctor can see images during the procedure so he can adjust as he goes. This helps him to know where the implant is and allows him to fine tune its position.

The manmade prosthetic hip joint includes holes for the surgeon to insert screws to prevent rotation of the implant. The surface of the implant allows the bone to integrate into it.

The surgeon hammers the cap into place. This holds it steady so the patient can put weight on the hip right away.

Workman went home the same day as his hip replacement.

“Dr. Bishop says he believes in recovery at home more than doing it in the hospital,” Workman said.

Dr. Bishop has performed hundreds of anterior hip replacement surgeries over the past seven years.

“Ultimately what I enjoy about the procedure is their outcome,” he stressed. “I like seeing people be able to get up, get moving and improve their lives after it. Estes Park Health is a great place to have this done because they can have it done close to home. I think we have a wonderful group of people that work in the hospital in every department, and we all work together well. We have a great team here.”

For excellent orthopedic care from experienced surgeons who can help ease the pain and get you back to your life, think Estes Park Health.