Patient Stories
Sutter Orthopaedic Institute

Lori - Back in the Game


Lori with golf friends (left to
right) Janet Novak, Nancy Bauhofer, and Lil Ray
"The minute I woke up in the hospital, my pain was gone," said Lori, who had been experiencing extreme hip pain from bone touching bone. The pain was so severe she couldn't sit or stand, let alone pursue her favorite pastime, golf.

A long time golfer who played three times a week, Lori couldn't wait to get back on the greens. She was more than ready for a hip replacement. Her orthopaedic surgeon, Scott Smith, M.D., proposed a new type of hip replacement called an "anterior" hip replacement.

Traditional hip surgery is performed through the buttock muscles and tendons to reach the hip joint. The new anterior procedure is performed through a small incision at the front of the hip, where there are no muscles and tendons to cut through.

According to Dr. Smith, there's less pain after surgery and in most cases, patients get back to their lives very quickly .

"I thought it sounded fantastic," said Lori, who underwent anterior hip replacement in May. Ten weeks later she was on the golf course, back in her game.

She says the surgery and recovery process went very well. She was able to stand and walk in the hospital after her surgery and at home completed physical therapy exercises and more.

Everything worked out great," said Lori. "The surgery and recovery were easy and the healing process was simple. I didn't have any trouble at all."

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