Advances in hip replacement surgery has patients back on their feet within hours


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OGDEN — Craig Guerrero didn't think he could ride a Harley Davidson motorcycle pain-free nine months ago.

For three years, Guerrero has experienced throbbing, stabbing pain. "If you've ever tried to put a bowling ball in a dryer on tumble dry, it was that kind of grinding, it was just the pressure," he said.

A very active father and grandfather, Guerrero loves to lift weights, rock climb and be active — but maybe too active. At 53 years of age, doctors told him he needed to replace his left hip. "I still get emotional about that," he said. "I thought my life would be over."

Orthopedic surgeon, Tom Calton, M.D. from Intermountain Calton-Harrison Orthopedic Clinic knew better and told Guerrero he was a perfect candidate for the anterior surgery. Calton said, "That approach in my eyes has been one of the biggest changes in orthopedics in the last 25 years. It's changed the way that patients go through surgery and the recovery."

Surgeons divided the two muscles in the front and "basically pull them to the side and there's the hip capsule," Calton said.

The incision is small and no tendons or muscles are cut, compared to the traditional approach which required splitting or tearing the posterior muscles.

"Probably more than anything is our ability to be precise when we perform the procedure," Calton said. "Dislocations have all but gone away. Patients are up on their feet within hours."

Guerrero was up and walking just two hours after surgery. "It was the first time that I was able to walk without any grinding pain. And to be able to walk without feeling that I thought, 'Oh my word you know I feel like my life is back," he said.

Guerrero is now scuba diving, pain-free and hitting the open road on his Harley with the wind in his face. "I'm not really limited to anything. I just have to remember I actually had a hip replacement," he said.

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Erin Goff

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