Bayhealth physician offers new hip surgery approach

A Bayhealth orthopaedic surgeon has brought an innovative hip replacement surgical technique to the residents of central and southern Delaware.

Trinity Pilkington, MD, offers the anterior approach to hip replacement surgery, which results in less pain, offers shorter hospital stay and faster recovery time, eliminates positional restrictions and improves patient satisfaction when compared to the traditional surgical methods.

“This muscle-sparing anterior approach to the hip offers patients the benefits of smaller incision and less muscle dissection, and eliminates post-operative positional restrictions,” he said.

Surgeons choose from among three basic approaches when performing hip replacement surgeries: posterior (back), anterior lateral (side) or anterior (front). The anterior procedure Pilkington performs differs from traditional hip replacement surgical techniques in several ways. The muscle is not removed from the bone, resulting in less pain and fewer complications, which also means that patients need not limit their movements while they recover. Also, since the major muscle groups are spared, the risk of dislocation and other complications is reduced. The goal is to have patients go home the day following their surgery, rather than the typical hospital stay, which averages three days.

“The benefit to patients is a smaller scar and a faster recovery with less pain,” he said.

A special operating table and instruments are required for this surgery, and surgeons must complete extensive training in the technique. Pilkington has performed more than 120 of these surgeries.

Pilkington joined Bayhealth Orthopaedics in 2013. This practice is part of Bayhealth Medical Group, a partnership of highly trained physicians, clinical staff, and an administrative support team that operates practices throughout central and southern Delaware.

Before joining Bayhealth, Pilkington was an orthopaedic surgeon at Riverside Memorial Hospital in Newport News, Va. He graduated with honors from the University of South Carolina School of Medicine and completed an orthopaedic surgical residency at Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh, Pa. He continued his orthopaedic training, specializing in orthopaedic trauma and reconstructive surgery, at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.

Board-certified by the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgeons, Pilkington is Bayhealth’s medical director for orthopaedic trauma. In addition to providing expertise in complex orthopaedic fracture care, Pilkington also specializes in minimally invasive joint replacement surgery.

Pilkington has offices in Dover and Milford, and performs surgery at both the Kent General and Milford Memorial campuses. For more information about the procedure, call his office at 302-730-4366.

Bayhealth comprises Kent General and Milford Memorial Hospitals, numerous satellite facilities and many employed physician practices encompassing a variety of specialties. For more information, go to www.bayhealth.org.