Patients, who have been suffering from chronic arthritis throughout their lives, have a new treatment option worth investigating. The new treatment is one Dr. Peterson is proud to be offering to his patients. Patients, that could not find relief before, may find relief with Gel-One. Zimmer Corporation, the company that developed Gel-One, created a brand new single use injection that is unlike the older ones on the market. This product has no false injections into the knee.

Out with the Old – Hyaluronic Acid Injection Therapy

The current treatment method, when used in patients who have had their arthritis for over a decade, has only around a 50 percent chance of actually relieving the pain of arthritis of the knee for an extended period of time. Those who find success with it have relief that lasts approximately 6 months, on average.

A second aspect of the current method of treatment is that even if the hyaluronic acid injection is successful in providing relief, some methods of therapy require a patient undergo multiple injections weekly, typically three to five per week depending on the severity of the arthritic pain.

In with the New – Gel -One

The Gel-One product by the Zimmer Corporation is not the first single-use injection treatment to be offered on the market. The previously used injection often provided an amount to be injected that was not sufficient to properly reduce pain and inflammation in the knee, producing what is affectionately called a pseudosepsis (fake infection). The Zimmer Corporation has worked hard to counter this first injection option by working to produce one that is much more effective while being processed in a way that still allows for delivery in a single use injection system.

Gel-One however has been clinically tested in a controlled study group to confirm that it does not produce a pseudosepsis effect.  The study consisted of 379 randomized patients, which 248 of them receiving the Gel-One formula. The patients were compared to the control at the thirteenth week beyond the baseline and demonstrated a greater amount of pain relief, averaging out at approximately 40% reduced amount of pain.

Also in this study there were no unexpected side effects observed, lending to the confidence our clinic has in this product as a new therapy option for those with chronic arthritic pain.

Gel-One and Our Clinic

Dr. Peterson offers Gel-One to his patients, and early results seem promising. He is continuing to use other forms of hyaluronic acid for those patients who have done well with them, and prefer not to switch.

If you would like to discuss your arthritis treatment options and find out if Gel-One is  right for you, make an appointment with Dr. Peterson at Orthopedic Specialists of Seattle. OSS is a comprehensive orthopedic practice.

Over the last decade, direct anterior approach (also called anterior supine incision or ASI) total hip replacement has been gaining popularity in the United States.  The reasons for this surge in popularity can be traced to three factors.

More traditional posterior or anterolateral surgical approaches to total hip replacement have to cut muscles attached to the hip joint in order to expose the joint.  In ASI total hip replacement, no muscles are cut, which results in less initial postoperative pain and faster early recovery with a shorter hospital stay for many patients.  Most patients have a one-night stay after surgery, and are off crutches by about 2 weeks after surgery.

The ASI approach allows for the use of x-ray imaging during surgery to precisely position the components, and to ensure very accurate measurement of leg lengths.  Since component position is critical to optimal long-term function of the implant, and leg-length inequality is one of the most common reasons for repeat surgery after older methods of hip replacement, this use of precise x-ray control is very advantageous.

Dislocation of the prosthesis is one of the more frustrating and challenging complications of total hip replacement.  With other techniques, the reported rate of dislocation over the lifetime of the prosthesis is 3-5% (Medicare data).  To try and minimize this, many surgeons performing those older techniques will tell their patients never to bend more than a right angle at the waist, and not to scissor their legs.

Because no muscles are cut during the ASI approach, the dislocation rate is markedly less.  After more than 2000 total hips performed by surgeons at Orthopedic Specialists of Seattle, the dislocation rate is less than 0.1% (less than 1 in 1000).  We therefore put no restriction on patient motion after surgery.  Dr. Peterson’s only restriction for his patients is no running for exercise.

An excellent YouTube animation video of how the ASI approach is performed is available below. While this video was made in Omaha by Dr. Ajoy Jana, the technique used by Dr. Peterson is very similar in all regards.

The surgeons at OSS perform more ASI hip replacements than any other practice in the Northwest.  Dr. Peterson has been performing total hip replacements for over 20 years, and switched to the ASI approach for most cases several years ago after seeing the significant benefits for his patients.  He would be happy to discuss this remarkable new technique with you during your office visit.