Hip Resurfacing ‘Just What The Doctor Ordered’

By  //  August 3, 2012

ACTIVE LIVING

Eighteen years ago, Ray Scott was seriously injured in a motorcycle accident that left him with a dislocated and severely traumatized hip.

RAY SCOTT, an international pilot for Delta Airlines, has traveled the world and lived a life filled with adventure and exploration. He was an avid surfer, scuba diver, sailor and a professional wind surfer. But then suddenly, his hip injury progressed causing him tremendous pain. (Image for Space Coast Medicine & Active Living)

Following the accident, Scott, a resident of Cocoa Beach, Florida, continued to live an active lifestyle as an international pilot that took him all over the world.

He was an avid surfer, scuba diver, sailor and a professional wind surfer. But then suddenly, his hip injury progressed causing him tremendous pain.

As an international pilot for Delta Airlines, Scott has traveled the world and lived a life filled with adventure and exploration.

Yet the active lifestyle was nearly derailed when he sustained serious injuries from an accident while riding his motorcycle in 1994.

Hip resurfacing has been developed as a surgical alternative to total hip replacement (THR). The procedure consists of placing a cobalt-chrome metal cap, which is hollow and shaped like a mushroom, over the head of the femur while a matching metal cup (similar to what is used with a THR) is placed in the acetabulum (pelvis socket), replacing the articulating surfaces of the patient’s hip joint and removing very little bone compared to a THR.

Scott, 46, healed quickly from cuts and bruises he suffered in the accident, but a severely dislocated and traumatized hip was another story.

“Back then they told me that there was a chance that I was going to have some issues with my hip down the road,” he said.

After a while, he recovered from his injuries and returned to doing everything he enjoyed like surfing, scuba diving, windsurfing and hiking. About 15 years following the accident, the pain from Scott’s hip injury suddenly returned, jeopardizing his career and his athletic pursuits.

“I couldn’t even begin to articulate how much pain I was in,” Scott said. “I felt like I had the body of a 36-year-old, but the pain of an 80-year-old.”

And so Scott began to investigate treatments to alleviate the constant debilitating pain he was experiencing.

Dr. Kenneth Sands

He spent the next several months conducting internet searches, receiving personal recommendations from friends and speaking to several orthopedic surgeons in Brevard County before he came to have a consultation in Viera with Dr. Kenneth Sands, a Health First Orthopedic Specialist.

“He was the only physician that gave me an option,” Scott said. “He explained the total replacement and a process called the Birmingham Hip Resurfacing.”

CUTTING-EDGE SURGEON

Dr. Sands joined Health First in 2011 from a distinguished private practice in Rome, Ga. He completed undergraduate studies at Duke University and then graduated from the Tulane University School of Medicine.

RAY SCOTT says he is now back to his active lifestyle both at work and play after his hip resurfacing procedure. “Dr. Sands and his staff, the surgery, the hospital, the nurses, the home health care and rehabilitation facility all hit a home run – and I am pain free,” said Scott. (Image for Space Coast Medicine & Active Living)

His surgical residency was performed at the State University of New York in Brooklyn and he also completed a fellowship in orthopedic joint replacement at Tampa’s Florida Orthopedic Institute.

Sands brought with him to Health First a growing reputation as a cutting-edge surgeon skilled in all facets of joint replacement.

He actually was one of only 50 surgeons in America initially trained in hip resurfacing and is adept in performing revolutionary total hip replacement surgery without cutting muscle. He is also skilled in revision surgery, partial knee replacements and computer assisted knee-replacement surgery.

“I offer a unique perspective on total joints,” Sands said.

AFTER CONDUCTING HIS OWN INDEPENDENT RESEARCH on the latest hip procedures, Ray Scott discovered a procedure called Birmingham Hip Resurfacing. Diligent in his search for the right treatment, he interviewed several physicians. It wasn’t until meeting Dr. Kenneth Sands, a Health First Orthopedic Specialist, that Scott found the answers he was looking for. “During my consultation, Dr. Sands thoughtfully explained the options and risk for a person my age,” said Scott. “He answered every question I could throw his way. Just the type of individual I’d like to have on the flight crew or as co-pilot.”

“Starting with the initial presentation and into the bone and muscle, I take a different approach. Time spent in the hospital after the surgery is minimal and our rehab program is aggressive. I want patients to be home in two or three days and to feel normal and back on their feet faster.”

Having been so active for much of his life, Scott was a perfect candidate for hip resurfacing, which involves a replacement of the joint’s articular surface only.

Ray Scott is now free of pain and doing everything he was prevented from doing because of his hip problem. He’s resumed surfing and even has spent some time teaching windsurfing to students on Merritt Island when he’s at home and not flying halfway around the world.

A total hip replacement (also called hip arthroplasty), involves surgical removal of the neck of the thighbone and insertion of a stem deep inside the bone to connect it with the pelvic socket and liner.

Sands recommended that Scott have hip resurfacing and he agreed to have the surgery, but was concerned about his recovery time.

“My goal was to walk in my brother’s wedding six weeks after I had the surgery,” said Scott.

“The speed with which I recovered was remarkable,” Scott said. “I was up and walking the next day and after a few weeks of in-home physical therapy, I was only using a cane.”

In excruciating pain just a day before surgery, two days after the operation Scott had no pain in the hip whatsoever.

RAY SCOTT in his “office” at 38,000 feet as an international pilot for Delta airlines. (Image for Space Coast Medicine & Active Living)

“They had me able to walk in that wedding six weeks later,” he said.

Now Scott is free of pain and doing everything he was prevented from doing because of his hip problem. He’s resumed surfing and even has spent some time teaching windsurfing to students on Merritt Island when he’s at home and not flying halfway around the world.

“Hip resurfacing with Dr. Sands at Health First was the best choice I could have ever made and I couldn’t be more grateful. The results have been amazing. Dr. Sands and his staff, the surgery, the hospital, the nurses, the home health care and rehabilitation facility all hit a home run – and I am pain free,” said Scott.

“I have to say that this is the best I have felt in 10 years. People are amazed that I have had hip surgery at my age and I remind them that you’re never too young to not be in pain,” Scott said.

“Hip resurfacing with Dr. Sands at Health First was the best choice I could have ever made and I couldn’t be more grateful. The results have been amazing. Dr. Sands and his staff, the surgery, the hospital, the nurses, the home health care and rehabilitation facility all hit a home run – and I am pain free,” said Scott.

“Today I am back to work and play 100 percent. I am so grateful for a second chance. We are fortunate to live in a day and age of this technology and expertise. It is my hope Dr. Sands would be as comfortable flying as a passenger on my flight as I felt confident placing my future in his hands.”

FOR MORE INFORMATION LOG ON TO Health-First.org/Ortho

 ABOUT KENNETH C. SANDS, MD, FAAOS

Dr. Sands Offers Unique Perspective On Total Joints

DR. KENNETH SANDS has brought with him to Health First a growing reputation as a cutting-edge surgeon adept at all facets of joint replacement.

DR. KENNETH SANDS

Dr. Sands  was one of only 50 surgeons initially trained in hip resurfacing and offers revolutionary total hip replacement surgery without cutting muscle. He is also skilled in revision surgery, partial knee replacements, and computer assisted knee replacement surgery.

“I offer a unique perspective on total joints,” Sands said. “Starting with the initial presentation and into the bone and muscle, I take a different approach. Time spent in the hospital after the surgery is minimal and our rehab program is aggressive. I want patients to be home in two or three days and to feel normal and back on their feet faster.”

• BOARD CERTIFICATION: Orthopedic Surgery; Board Certified, American Board of Orthopedic Surgery.
• HOSPITAL AFFILIATIONS: Viera Hospital, Melbourne; Cape Canaveral Hospital, Cocoa Beach.
• MEDICAL SPECIALTY: Hip Joint Replacement; Knee Joint Replacement; Hip Resurfacing; Hip Arthroscopy; Oxford Mobile Bearing Partial Knee Replacement; Anterior Total Hip Replacement Surgery; Computer Assisted Surgery.
• CLINICAL INTEREST: Total Joint Replacement; Computer Assisted Surgery.
• EDUCATION, RESIDENCY & FELLOWSHIP: Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA; State University of New York, Downstate Medical Center, Brooklyn, NY, Residency; Florida Orthopedic Institute, Tampa , FL, Fellowship, Total Joint Replacement.

2 Comments

  1. As Ray Scott’s mother, and admirer, I feel the urge to add that all of the above is absolutely true, but it fails to tell how State of the Art the new Viera Hospital is. It does not say how well Dr Sands, his assistant, and his staff stayed close by. and there for us every step of the way.

    The hospital takes almost as much care of the family as it does of the patient. I am so very grateful.

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