Athens Medical Center: Over 1,500 successful surgeries at the Large Joint Clinic
Athens, October 29, 2018 – The milestone of 1,500 successful total hip arthroplasty surgeries, using the minimally invasive ASI (Anterior Supine Intermuscular) method, was surpassed by the department director, Dr. Ioannis Tsarouchas, and his team.
The central innovation of this revolutionary method is the use of a very small anterior incision, only 6-7 centimeters long. Soft tissue injury is minimal, as the transection of muscles and tendons is avoided and the duration of the surgery is approximately one and a half hours.
Thus, blood loss is limited, and when the patient has a normal hematocrit preoperatively, it is very rare to need a transfusion.
Postoperative pain is minimized and the joint, due to the protection of the soft tissues, is stable from the first day. This means that the patient can immediately get up and walk. Depending on his physical condition, he may not need any aids from the beginning.
The duration of hospitalization is limited to 2-4 days. With rapid mobilization, the risk of serious complications, such as venous thrombosis and respiratory and cardiac problems, is significantly reduced.
The patient is reintegrated more quickly into daily activities and a normal life. It is particularly important that the ASI technique is also indicated in overweight patients, in whom other techniques are associated with significant problems.
Dr. Ioannis Tsarouchas stated: “The average duration of the procedures was 92 minutes. Only 2% of patients required transfusion, while 98.5% were mobilized from the very first postoperative day. Postoperative pain was minimal and very well tolerated by the patients and only 4% required strong analgesics during their hospitalization. The average duration of hospitalization after surgery was 3 days. Finally, an indicator of the success of the method is that most patients were completely satisfied with the outcome of the procedure and in fact a percentage of those who had arthritis in their other hip as well (20%) requested and underwent total hip arthroplasty of the other hip within a few months. Also, patients who had previously undergone total hip arthroplasty in the other hip using classical techniques emphatically reported the superiority of the ASI method over them in terms of postoperative pain, length of hospitalization, very rapid recovery and perfect functional outcome. For more press information: Savvas Karagiannis, Communications Manager, Business Development Department, Athens Medical Group Tel.: 210 6862521, E-mail: s.karagiannis@iatriko.gr
