Re: new to hippy

April 12, 2004

I'm sure others will write you with their own recommendations, but I encourage

you to check out Dr Gross's website: www.grossortho.com He is in Columbia,

S.C., and did my left hip resurfacing in early February. His office handled all

of the insurance stuff and the procedure was paid for by my carrier ( " out of

network " costs, but -- hey! That's okay.) Dr Gross has done many resurfacings

-- somewhere just over 300, I think. And, yeah, your average orthopaedic

surgeon does NOT encourage resurfacing. Remember that -- they'll discourage you

from doing it. Check out www.activehips.com also. Cornet also has a website.

Good luck. Joyce (Dr Gross, LHR, 2/04)

April 12, 2004

> I just joined surfacehippy today. I am looking for more information

> about resurfacing in the US. I have a friend who went to Belgium and

> had the Birmingham Hip Resurfacing (BHR) device by Dr. De Smet and he

> has nothing but great things to say about it. Belgium sounds great,

> but I don't know if flying overseas is a real option for me. He went

> to Belgium b/c it wasn't covered by insurance and it would have been

> about 3x the cost in the US. As I do my research I see there are

> devices in the US that are similar. Does anyone know how the

> Conserve Plus, Cormet (sp?), or others compare to the BHR.

The design of all these devices is quite similar. There are some

slight differences in the manufacturing technology which may

result in slightly different wear characteristics, but there's not

any evidence that any of these devices is superior to the others.

The BHR has a longer track record, and is available in a wider range

of sizes. It also has the option of a special dysplasia cup (secured

by screws) for patients with severe dysplasia. The " normal " cup for

all of these devices is " press fit " into the pelvis.

> Are they

> FDA approved

Not yet. The Conserve Plus has completed its FDA trials and final

application has been made to the FDA for marketing approval. So far,

the FDA has not approved the application. It'll probably happen later

this year.

>and/or covered by insurance?

It depends on your insurance (and on how persuasive the staff at your

surgeon's office is in dealing with them). Some people have gotten

them completely covered, some people have gotten partial coverage

(like, everything except the cost of the device or the difference in

cost between a THR and a resurface), and some have been denied

completely. There doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason.

> The doctor I have been seeing prefers total hip replacement vs

> resurfacing. I'm not totally sure why. He does 400/year and is well

> known as one of the best in the area (Central Wisconsin). I am

It's something he's familiar with. He hasn't been trained in

resurfacing, and may not be aware of the newer devices. He may be

thinking of the failures of the metal-on-polyethylene resurfacings

that were attempted in the 1980s, and may not know much about the

metal-on-metal devices of today.

> confident in his abilities, but should I be looking for someone with

> more resurfacing experience or at least more pro-resurfacing?

Yes, you should.

>I know

> that Dr. De Smet is the expert, but are there doctors in the US that

> are just as good?

De Smet has done more resurfacings than anyone in the United States,

but there are a number of US surgeons who have done several hundred

by now. De Smet is famous for taking really difficult cases (severe

dysplasia, poor bone quality, etc) and successfully resurfacing

them.

Everybody's got a favorite doc. I've been pretty impressed in my

dealings with Amstutz (LA), but I'm not getting the surgery for

another 8 days (so my opinions may be different at the end of the

month ;-) ). I've corresponded with De Smet and found him to be

really responsive, informative, and approachable. Gross (South

Carolina) seems to have the magic touch in dealing with insurance

companies, etc, etc. Evryone here pretty much swears by the surgeons

who actually worked on them.

Steve

April 13, 2004

calani22: Thank you for asking those questions. I too am new to the

site and I was wondering about those exact same things. I live in

Ohio and my doctor never mentioned resurfacing at all - he just said

" take these pain killers and when you can't stand it any longer come

back and we can do a total hip replacement. " Thanks to those who

replied - your responses are greatly appreciated.

Norrod