First same-day outpatient hip replacement surgery performed
NAPLES, Fla. (January 11, 2016) – A Southwest Florida resident recently received a total hip replacement at the area’s first and only facility built exclusively for such same-day outpatient joint replacement surgical procedures. Equipped with a specialized hana® operating table, Seaside Surgery Center provides premier joint replacement surgeons Dr. H. Kurtis Biggs and Dr. Robert J. Zehr the ability to perform minimally invasive direct anterior approach total hip and total knee replacement surgery.
On the operating table at 7am and home by noon, Zehr Center Orthopaedics patient Don Uhlenkott was the first resident to experience the advantages of same-day outpatient hip replacement surgery. Uhlenkott is a handyman by trade and confesses he put off his surgery as long as he could. When his pain increased to where he could only work two or three hours a day before coming home to lay on a heating pad, he decided it was time for surgery. What he noticed immediately upon awakening in the recovery room was that his back pain was gone. “I think I could have run around the block!” Uhlenkott jokes.
Working with the visiting nurses and physical therapist in the comfort of his home, with his wife Crissy alongside, Uhlenkott quickly progressed from using a walker to a cane, to walking without aid by the end of the first week. “I’m going up and down ladders now, and I put up the Christmas lights,” he reports.
Uhlenkott firmly believes that having his hip surgery as an outpatient and going home right away played a big part in his rapid and successful recovery. He was impressed by the facility, but even more so by the staff, and by the care and attention that not only he, but also his wife, received during the procedure. “I was really excited to be the first, to have this surgery as an outpatient. I did not want to do the hospital thing.”
“This is a game changer for Southwest Florida. While partial knee replacement surgery is performed on an outpatient basis, we are the first and only surgery center to offer total hip and total knee replacement on an outpatient basis,” said Dr. Zehr, CEO/Medical Director of Seaside Surgery Center, LLC. “Dr. Biggs and I are thrilled to offer this option for many of our younger, healthy patients.”
“We are part of a nationwide trend toward same-day outpatient joint replacement surgery,” explains Dr. Biggs who recently performed the first total knee replacement surgery at Seaside Surgery Center. “The center offers the optimum environment for successful surgical outcomes and is more convenient and easier to navigate than a hospital. The pristine, private environment away from traditionally sick patients, reduces the risk of infection and improves patient satisfaction. Patients recover rapidly in the comfort of their own homes under the watchful eye of a skilled visiting nurse and physical therapist.”
Dr. Biggs, of the Joint Replacement Institute of Florida, and Dr. Zehr, of Zehr Center Orthopaedics, will perform the minimally invasive hip, knee and partial knee replacement procedures at Seaside Surgery Center. Other surgeons working at the facility include Dr. Brian Wallace and Dr. Steven Goldberg who are both trained and experienced upper extremity and sports medicine orthopaedic surgeons. In addition, podiatrists Dr. Jamie Weaver, Dr. Chris Paladino, Dr. Michael Petrocelli and Dr. Chris Calcagni, will conduct surgeries on foot and ankle problems. These talented surgeons are assisted by a team of more than 15 highly experienced nurses and administrators.
Seaside Surgery Center is located at 1879 Veterans Park Drive, Suite 1101 in Naples, Florida. It is licensed by the State of Florida Agency for Health Care Administration and has been approved by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations. For more information or to schedule a surgery consultation, please contact Seaside Surgery Center at 239-592-4955.
About Dr. H. Kurtis Biggs
H. Kurtis Biggs, DO is the founding orthopaedic surgeon of the Joint Replacement Institute of Florida. He serves as a national instructor on hip and knee replacement and is an advisor on replacement technology development for ConforMis and Corin USA. Dr. Biggs has performed more than 1,200 direct anterior hip procedures and the highest volume of ConforMIS-specifc knee replacements in Southwest Florida. He was the first surgeon at Seaside Surgery to perform same-day outpatient knee replacement surgery. Dr. Biggs is a four-time winner of Most Compassionate Doctor in the state of Florida and named as one of the Top 10 orthopaedic surgeon specialists in Southwest Florida by Vitals.com and Healthgrades.com, which are a result of patient responses. Dr. Biggs completed an orthopaedic surgery residency and then fellowship in joint replacement at the world renowned Cleveland Clinic Foundation.
About Dr. Robert J. Zehr
Robert J. Zehr, MD is a board certified, fellowship trained orthopaedic surgeon with over 25 years of experience who specializes in hip and knee replacement surgery. He is the founder of The Zehr Center for Orthopaedics; a private orthopaedic surgery practice located in Naples, FL. The leading hip replacement surgeon in Naples, Dr. Zehr pioneered the direct anterior approach to hip replacement in Southwest Florida and has performed over 1,200 of the procedures. He was the first surgeon in the area to perform same-day outpatient total hip replacement surgery. He conducted the surgery at the Seaside Surgery Center, of which he is CEO/Medical Director. Consistently chosen as a Castle Connolly Top Orthopaedic Surgeon, Dr. Zehr has won numerous awards from peers and patients alike and ranks as one of the Top Ten Orthopaedic Surgeons in the World according to RateMDs.com.