Hello,
I am a rep for an ortho company, and I am fascinated by the forum you have here. It is great. Being on the other side of the operation, these procedures become so routine to us that we sometime forget how our implants change people lives. It is great to see.
I wanted to respond though that before going to Belgium to get your hip done, a lot of surgeons are now performing these procedures with more ease, especially that they are starting to have a few of them under their belts. In SFO, you might want to consider looking at Thomas Vail, MD, he actually performs the procedure with Computer Assisted Surgery (CAS). If anywhere else, you might want to consider Idaho, a lot closer to Belgium (1hr flight). Our governor just got his hip resurfaced and at least 2 surgeons in Boise are doing a fantastic job: Colin Poole, MD 208-383-0201 and Jeff Menzner, MD 208-323-2600. There has been over 120 hips resurfaced in Boise since BHR was approved and all with CAS.
www.ktvb.com/news/localnews/stories/ktvbn-feb2908-otter_hip.b51b76c.htmlA word on CAS. It is like a GPS. It is a computer that the surgeon uses to optimize the placement (size, angles, cuts, etc...) BEFORE the actual cuts are made. It is like a intra-operative templating to make sure that the size will match your head but be also compatible with your socket and that the angle is correct to avoid notching (the most likely complication). Then the computer will guide each step of the surgery and the surgeon can see live how each movement affect his result. It is really cool. Not a lot of surgeons are doing it with CAS, but the problem with resurfacing is that the learning curve for a surgeon is quite steep. It is said that it takes anywhere between 20 to 50 cases for them to be comfortable. The computer takes that learning curve away. It is also used a lot in Total Knee replacement.
Anyway, just wanted to give you more info. Oh and also, though hip resurfacing is great, it is not for everybody and, it may be unfortunately that your arthritis or resulting deformity is now too great to be fixed by a resurfacing. Total hip is a powerful surgery with some of the best outcome any surgery ever had and it actually is less invasive since less soft tissue needs to be exposed. So don't get bummed out if you are not eligible and are being turned down by your orthopod.
Pat, how do you update your doctor information? Your site though really awesome is missing a few names for surgeons and it seems that these people are looking for them. Let me know if you need help with updating your data. Thanks for the site.