December 12, 2018
The first Birmingham Hip Resurfacing (BHR) implant procedure performed in the United States was completed twelve and a half years ago by internationally renowned hip and knee surgeon Robert Barrack, MD, at Washington University Orthopedics and Barnes-Jewish Hospital. The BHR system offers patients with severe hip arthritis an alternative to undergoing a total hip replacement. With BHR, the hip joint is resurfaced rather than replaced, allowing patients to have almost no restrictions after surgery and return to a very high activity level.
Over the last twelve years, Robert Barrack, MD, and colleagues, have followed BHR patients, studying their outcomes and the endurance of the BHR implant over an extended time. Their study, Five to Ten-Year Results of the Birmingham Hip Resurfacing Implant in the U.S.: A Single Institution's Experience, was recently published in the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery.
Their study found that the BHR provided excellent clinical outcomes at 5 to 10 years in selected patients, and that BHR may be a better option than a total hip replacement for highly active patients who want to continue remaining active after surgery. To further document long-term BHR outcomes, Dr. Barrack and his team will continue research, but this study has provided great insight into the status of BHR at a major United States medical center during the first decade and beyond.
Currently, Washington University Orthopedics is one of the few centers in the country offering BHR, and patients travel from all over the United States to see Dr. Barrack for hip resurfacing. Learn more about Dr. Barrack here.
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