7 Healthcast: Hip resurfacing

"I'm active [and] want to continue to be active,’ says 48-year-old David Hudson,

But his hip is preventing him from staying that way.

"Walking and things can be pretty uncomfortable," he says.

So, Hudson is about to have hip surgery. Not a traditional hip replacement, but a new technique called hip resurfacing.

"You maintain all the patients own anatomy and just resurface the arthritic head and cuff," says Dr. Daniel Snyder, of Newton-Wellesley Hospital. "By doing that, it's much more normal feeling and normal hip."

A special computer helps guide Orthopedic surgeon Dr. Snyder during the surgery.

"The computer gives us the alignment and the guidance to where we want to put our instruments that do the cutting," says Dr. Snyder. "We still do the cutting. We still do the exposure, but the computer tells us where we want to make that exact cut."

Dr. Snyder says one benefit of hip resurfacing is that patients can return to an active lifestyle.

"The idea of skiing, windsurfing, marathon running with a total hip isn't really accepted, but with the hip resurfacing, it's accepted, and it's being done," he says.

The best candidates for resurfacing are young, active individuals with hip pain.

"We generally recommend for men under 65 years of age and for females under 55 years of age," says Dr. Snyder.

Two weeks after the procedure, Hudson is up and about.

"The biggest thing that you notice is that the pain is gone, and you have mobility," he says

Hudson is already looking forward to getting back to playing tennis, skiing and windsurfing.

And he also is excited to be an active new dad.

"We have a child on the way, so I want to be able to do all the things that a father wants to do with his newborn son," Hudson says.

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