Prestigious Award in Hip Surgery
February 23, 2009 – A clinical research team of orthopedic surgeons from the Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital Research Centre will be honoured with the Hip Society’s John Charnley Award, the most prestigious award in the field of hip surgery.
True North American pioneers in the development of new knee and hip replacement technologies, Drs. Pascal-André Vendittoli, Martin Lavigne, and Alain Roy, in collaboration with kinesiologists Marc Therrien, Julie Nantel, and François Prince, have carried out an important study assessing the performance of hip resurfacing surgery compared with total hip replacement using large-diameter heads. Their award will be presented on February 28, 2009, in Las Vegas.
“It’s the highest honour that we could have ever expected to receive,” said Dr. Vendittoli as he acknowledged his entire team.
Dr. Roy, Dr. Vendittoli and Dr. Lavigne were the first in North America to introduce the use of a hip resurfacing prosthesis back in 2003. The Durom® prosthesis, which they used, is a small metal cup that is placed on the femoral head. It is used as an alternative to a total hip prosthesis, which is usually implanted in the femur. Hip resurfacing is hugely advantageous because it is bone-conserving and much less invasive than a total hip replacement.
For the first time, these studies provide solid scientific data highlighting the pros and cons of new joint replacement implants for active young subjects.
In a first two-year study, researchers conducted a comparative on hip resurfacing and total hip prostheses with metal on metal surfaces of 28 mm. Their findings revealed that hip resurfacing demonstrated some functional superiority and little chance of luxation. This study will be published in the American Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery in 2009.
Researchers took their investigation one step further with a second study in which they conducted a comparative on hip resurfacing and total hip prostheses with metal on metal surfaces of large diameter. It is this second study that is being recognized with the John Charnley Award. The study was conducted without any of the patients’ or examiners’ knowledge of which implant was used. Sophisticated methods such as Vicon cameras were used to examine all of the patients in the Ambulation Clinic. The study showed that both groups received equivalent results after six months, and concluded that the single advantage of hip resurfacing over total hip prostheses of large diameter is femoral conservation.
Arthrosis of the hip joint, or coxarthrosis, is the most common joint disorder after arthrosis of the knee, afflicting almost 15% of the population.
The February 9-2009 edition of the journal Forum features both an article and a report on this topic.
Read the article (in French)
View the report (in French)