The procedure, reportedly the first of its kind in the United States, was performed by a team including spine and neurosurgeon Ehud Mendel, MD, and plastic surgeon Michael Miller, MD. The en bloc procedure allowed the surgeons to remove the leg and use it to reconstruct a pelvis strong enough to support a prosthetic leg.
After initially amputating the leg, the surgical team fixed large and small rods between the pelvis and the spine with 14 screws, fused with the leg bones. The procedure allowed the bones to fuse together to create an intact pelvic ring strong enough to allow the patient to walk again with the prosthetic.
Read the release about the pelvis reconstruction.
Read other coverage on hip surgery:
Dr. Brian Kelly Performs Hip Surgery on New York Giants’ Osi Umenyiora
Dr. Mark McFarland Performs Virginia’s First Outpatient Total hip Replacement
AAOS: 4 New Hip Replacement Studies and Trends
