Joanne, 70, had been struggling with bad hips for at least five years and decided she had suffered long enough. She really wanted to have both hips done at the same time so she would only have one hospital stay and one round of rehabilitation and physical therapy. She was thrilled that her surgeon, Dr. Rajeev Jain, of Midwest Orthopaedic Institute, Sycamore, said he could do it.

So in February, Joanne became the first patient at Kishwaukee Community Hospital to have bilateral hip replacement.  The surgeries were actually done three days apart.
Dr. Jain, who specializes in total joint replacement, had done bilateral hip replacement during his fellowship training at Scripps Clinic and Research Foundation, La Jolla, CA. With the recent development of a clinical ortho team at the hospital, he was confident the nurses and physical therapists could handle the challenging case. He also felt the bilateral procedure was Joanne’s best option. “She would have had a very difficult time rehabbing one side while the other side remained in bad shape,” he said.

Joanne had debilitating osteoarthritis pain in both hips that caused her to walk hunched over with a severe limp, which severely affected her quality of life, he said. “She told me she could not go on living like this.” She also had multiple medical issues making her a higher risk patient. “Working closely with her personal doctor and the hospital’s ortho team, she came through the surgery and rehab beautifully. A month after the surgery she walked into my office looking taller,” he said.

Dr. Jain replaced her ball and socket with a metal-on-metal bearing that allows more range of motion and greater stability. In addition, his muscle-sparing surgical technique led to less pain during the healing process and a shorter recovery time. A key element to her recovery was aggressive physical therapy. Joanne was on her feet, with assistance of course, within 24 hours of both surgeries. “Moving the new joints and rehabilitating the muscles are essential,” he said. Following hospital discharge, she spent 12 days in short-term inpatient rehab, then did six weeks of outpatient physical therapy.

Five months later, Dr. Jain, reported “the patient’s hips are doing fine. She is walking normally, upright with no limp. She has no problems and is doing everything she wants to do. She is very satisfied with her quality of life.”

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