SCHENECTADY

For years, Gabbrielle McGlothan has suffered with pain in her left hip and groin because of arthritis. An operating room nurse at Ellis Hospital, McGlothan, 45, also spent several hours a day on her feet.

“Working every day, by the time I would walk to my car at night, it would really be painful,” recalled McGlothan, who lives in Schenectady. “I also like to go to the gym and do aerobics, and that was starting to get really painful, too.

Whether your passion is sports, work or family activities, arthritic hip pain shouldn’t stop you.

For thousands of younger, more active patients with hip pain, hip resurfacing is a type of hip replacement that replaces the arthritic surface of the joint but removes far less bone than traditional total hip replacement.

Because the hip resurfacing removes less bone, it may be preferable for many younger patients that are expected to need a second, or revision hip-replacement surgery as they grow older and wear out the original artificial hip replacement, explained Dr. Rory D. Wood, an orthopedic surgeon at Ellis Hospital.

“Hip resurfacing is a type of total hip replacement, but you are preserving more bone,” said Wood, the only surgeon in Schenectady doing the surgery. “When you become arthritic, the cartilage wears away, and you start to grind bone against bone, and that’s painful.”

The surgery is also being done in Albany. About 400 surgeons nationwide have been trained to use hip resurfacing, called the Birmingham Hip System.

Ball-and-socket joint

Wood said the hip is a ball-and-socket joint that allows you to move and balance. It’s made of bones, cartilage, ligaments and muscles. The two bones that are part of the hip joint are the femur (thighbone) and pelvis. The femur ends in a round ball, which fits snugly into the pelvic socket (called the acetabulum.)

This snug fit is cushioned by a smooth cartilage lining. A tough matrix of ligaments connects the femur and pelvis, keeping the hip joint in place and functional. Muscles attach to the hip joint, providing the ability to move the legs.

“In typical hip replacement, we cut the ball right off and put a stem down the femur with a ball on it,” said Wood. “But in resurfacing, we preserve the femur head by resurfacing it with metal.”

The surgeon prepares the bone using specialized instruments supplied by the manufacturer of the Birmingham Hip Resurfacing System implants.

The head of the femur is prepared to receive the resurfacing component, and the socket is shaped to accept the new resurfacing cup.

Once this is accomplished, the socket is inserted in a position to give stability to the hip, and allow bone to grow around it. This encourages long-term security in the newly refinished hip joint. Finally, the resurfacing head component is fixed into position using bone cement.

Trying to preserve bone

The new hip is expected to last approximately 20 years.

“We know that they are doing at least as well as conventional total hip replacements at this point, and the hope is that they might last longer,” said Wood. “The real place of resurfacing is in a younger patient like Gabby, who unfortunately developed arthritis young in her life and is faced with the prospect of maybe having multiple total hip operations throughout her life.”

The surgeon’s desire is to be as conservative with bone as possible from the beginning because there is a limited bone to work with.

“Each time a total hip wears out, it takes a little more bone with it,” said Wood. “So each time you go back, you have a little less bone to mount your prosthesis on. In a standard total hip replacement, we take a lot more bone the first time around. In a young person, there’s a desire to try to conserve that bone for the future.”

Doctors say that 10 percent to 15 percent of hip-replacement candidates may find hip resurfacing a viable alternative.

The surgery takes about two hours.

For all its potential advantages, hip-resurfacing surgery is actually no easier for the patient or doctor than standard hip replacement, said Wood.

A number of medical conditions and health conditions, such as kidney disease and obesity, may make even young patients poor candidates for resurfacing.

Recuperation time is about the same.

“Some people feel really good in a month,” said Wood. “Sometimes it take two to three months to really feel good after surgery. We don’t want people to overdo it too soon after surgery.”

The main drawback to the surgery is the risk of a femur neck fracture, said Wood. Other potential problems during surgery include blood loss, risk of infection and risk of blood clots in the legs or lungs after surgery.

Pain is gone

McGlothan had her left hip resurfaced in April.

“It took me about six to eight weeks to feel completely normal,” said McGlothan, who returned to work in two months. “I can do just about everything now without pain. I actually wish I had it done sooner.”

Eventually, McGlothan plans to have her right hip and her left knee resurfaced.

“It’s something that’s going to have to be done in the future, but not any time too soon,” she said.