FOX 12 Oregon’s Good Day Living recently stopped by ROC’s Tualatin location, where Stephanie Kralevich spoke with Dr. Mark Wagner, an orthopedic surgeon specializing in hip preservation and hip replacement.
In this conversation, Dr. Wagner explains the difference between hip preservation and hip replacement and how treatment depends on the condition of the patient’s natural hip joint. He also discusses advances in hip replacement, including minimally invasive techniques and robotic assistance, and how the right treatment can help patients return to the activities that matter to them.
Video Transcript:
Stephanie Kralevich: ROC stands for Regenerative Orthopedic Center. Today we are at ROC’s new location in Tualatin to speak with Dr. Mark Wagner. He is a board-certified orthopedic surgeon who has performed more than 4,000 hip preservation surgeries and more than 1,000 robotic-assisted hip replacement procedures. Dr. Wagner, what’s your specialty here at ROC?
Dr. Mark Wagner: Here at ROC, I’m kind of known as the hip guy. So my specialty is hips — all things hip, everything hips. About half of my practice involves arthritis and replacing hip joints, and about the other half of my practice is hip preservation. So it’s trying to preserve the hip joint without having to replace it.
Stephanie Kralevich: Hip replacement, though, has come a long way in the past couple decades.
Dr. Mark Wagner: Yeah, it’s gone from a procedure decades and decades ago where people would spend a week in the hospital following the surgery. Nowadays, it’s done minimally invasive. We use robotic assistance, and 95% of my patients go home the same day.
Stephanie Kralevich: So there’s less pain and recovery times are shorter?
Dr. Mark Wagner: Yeah. Most patients following hip replacements are walking two to three miles at six weeks, actually standing up and walking on that hip within about two hours after the operation.
Stephanie Kralevich: What do you hear from patients who have put off surgery and then finally get it done?
Dr. Mark Wagner: I think the most common thing that we hear, especially postoperative, is, “Why didn’t I do this sooner?” It’s that, “Hey, my quality of life has been changed. I’m back to the activities that I can do.”
Stephanie Kralevich: A lot of patients come in thinking they need hip replacement surgery, and it turns out that they don’t.
Dr. Mark Wagner: More and more adults are becoming more and more active and having non-arthritic injuries to the hip, even my age or older, that don’t need a replacement but have an injury that we can fix with hip preservation.
Stephanie Kralevich: What’s the most rewarding part of your job?
Dr. Mark Wagner: I think getting patients back to their quality of life and hearing them come back and say, “Hey, I’ve finally been able to go out there and play catch with my son or go out on hikes.” Those are, for sure, the best parts of my day.
Stephanie Kralevich: To learn more about orthopedic care and recovery at Regenerative Orthopedic Center, visit rocpdx.com.