Prices in Germany are normally 75% below the cost of hip replacement surgery in the US and are individually quoted. They include all medical expenses, the hospital stay, surgeon's fees, operation room fees, anesthesia, anesthesiologist's fees, medicine, nursing, semi-private room, meals, pre-op diagnosis, local phone and English TV.
Minimally invasive hip replacement surgery is a general term that describes several variations of hip replacement surgeries. The techniques in a minimally invasive surgery are designed to reduce the tissue trauma associated with hip replacement. The goal of this surgery is to reduce trauma to the tissues reducing pain in the patient and to reduce recovery.
One of the methods used to perform minimally invasive hip replacement is a procedure called the MIS-2-incision hip replacement. Hip replacement procedures performed with a shorter incision are considerably different from MIS-2-incision hip replacements. The MIS-2-incision hip replacement is often described as same-day hip replacement. It is a different way of performing hip replacement surgery.
The approach is not new. Several decades ago, pioneer hip surgeons described the surgical pathway to the hip joint from the skin. What is new is using two incisions that are only 1-2 inches in length. Importantly, once the surgeon makes the cuts, the rest of the procedure involves moving around the muscle layers without cutting them. Special instruments, implants, and fluoroscopic guidance are needed to perform an MIS-2-incision hip replacement. Fluoroscopic guidance requires an x-ray machine and computer to project the image on a video monitor. MIS-2-incision hip replacement is a technically demanding technique that is best left to very capable surgeons.
Besides greatly reduced pain after surgery, the MIS-2-incision technique offers a very early return to walking. The overall recovery is faster than that for hip replacements that are done through a 4-inch incision using standard techniques.