Minimally invasive approaches in total hip replacement

Hip Osteoarthritis has always been a challenge for the orthopaedic community and, in the present age of increasing life expectancy and quality, it has become one of the most common causes for orthopaedic surgery. Nowadays, the development of THR focuses on refining the surgical technique, especially on minimising operative tissue injury. Convencional approaches in THR surgery preserve main vessels and nerves and provide excellent visualisation of the operative field but at the expense of muscle attachments and ligaments which are inevitably injured. The authors of MIS concept underline the idea of minimising injury inflicted on the muscle-tendon unit. There are a lot of evidence that the MIS procedures allow for early rehabilitation, shorter in-hospital stay and hasten full functional recovery. They are also associated with decreased perioperative blood loss, reduced postoperative pain and decreased risk of infections.