Zhenjiang, China – On December 26, a 103-year-old patient successfully received SuperPath™ surgery in Zhengjiang First People's Hospital, which helped him to stand on his own feet the same day after the surgery. He is the oldest patient to be effectively treated by SuperPath™ surgery in China.
According to Director Jun Xie of Zhengjiang First People's Hospital, the male patient suffered from right femoral neck fracture due to an accidental fall. Surgeons in several other hospitals declined to carry out surgical treatment on him because of high surgical risk. "At first, we were also concerned about the risk but we were more eager to cure him. Since he's as old as 103, we chose SuperPath™ technique," said Director Xie. He added, it is extremely hard to perform surgeries on centenarians, and even if it achieved successful outcome, the surgeon and the patient have to face long and painful postoperative recovery. In similar hip replacement surgeries, the aged patients had to stay in ICU for further observation after surgery.
The surgery was performed successfully and Director Xie commented that it was a "perfect" surgery. The patient was transferred to an ordinary ward after surgery and was able to stand on his feet and walk with the help of walking aid several hours after surgery. The relatives of the patient spoke highly of SuperPath™ technique: "It's a miracle! We never expected that he can recover so well and fast."
As the world's first total hip arthroplasty minimally invasive technique that facilitates a faster return to function for patients, SuperPath™ technique is a milestone in the development of hip replacement. It has been gained higher recognition in US and European countries, and was introduced to China in 2014 by Shanghai MicroPort Orthopedics Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Shanghai MicroPort Medical (Group) Co., Ltd. Compared to traditional hip replacement technique, SuperPath™ causes incision as little as a 3-inch and ensures the maximum protection of soft tissue. Because of the preservation of external rotators and joint capsule, SuperPath™ technique reduces blood loss and tissue damage, leading to fewer post-operative restrictions, faster return to function, and improved satisfaction for patients. SuperPath™ technique not only offers patients with small incision, but also preserves the soft tissue to the largest extent which leads to added advantages like preservation of the external rotators, decreased operative time, decreased intra-operative blood loss, increased post-operative stability, as well as decreased post-operative recovery time and pain. Patients can walk as early as four hours after surgery.
The concept of "fast recovery" has been highly recognized and approved by hospitals, clinical experts and medical enterprises as it is in line with the main trend of the development of artificial joint replacement. It improves not only the management efficiency and the level of recovery of postoperative rehabilitation, but also the utilization of medical resources. SuperPath™ was introduced to China in 2014 by MicroPort® Orthopedics to benefit more Chinese patients with joint diseases. In the future, MicroPort® will continue to promote this technique to offer solutions to local patients.