JointMedica & the Hip Resurfacing Comeback

Send us Fan Mail Hip resurfacing was written off after the metal-on-metal era — but the patients kept coming back happy. Two surgeons who never stopped offering it explain what changed, and what a vitamin E polyethylene bearing does to the failure mode that ended it. For hip surgeons weighing whether resurfacing belongs in their toolkit, and for anyone interested in where orthopedic implant innovation actually comes from. Sharat Kusuma left clinical practice to lead JointMedica as CEO, developing the PolyMotion resurfacing device. Craig Della Valle, of Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, took Sharat on as a fellow nearly twenty years ago and is now an investigator in the device's IDE study. Both learned the operation in the Birmingham era — Craig with Derek McMinn, Sharat during six months in England with McMinn, Ronan Treacy and Andrew Manktelow. Neither of them skips the hard parts. Craig is candid about revising his own metal-on-metal failures, about resurfacing taking longer and paying the same as a total hip, and about how much of the case rests on results he cannot randomize. Sharat argues the real ceiling is instrumentation rather than the operation, and that implant companies — not surgeons — should carry the burden of making a difficult procedure easy. They disagree, usefully, about how familiar the PolyMotion cup will feel the first time a surgeon picks it up. A long stretch of the conversation is about the anterior approach specifically: whether resurfacing is harder or easier from the front, what the capsulotomy actually demands, and why centering the guide pin in the femoral neck is the step still waiting to be solved. If you do anterior approach hips and have wondered whether resurfacing is a reasonable extension of what you already do, start there. ⏱️ Chapters: 00:00 Why hip resurfacing is getting a second look 02:40 The problem a stemmed total hip still doesn't solve 05:29 Learning resurfacing in Birmingham and the first 20 cases 08:50 Dislocation, fracture and infection rates in resurfacing 13:55 The coming wave of periprosthetic fractures 19:20 Practicing through the metal-on-metal fallout 27:17 Is hip resurfacing niche? Sizing the candidate pool 33:22 Inside PolyMotion's vitamin E polyethylene bearing 40:50 Why cup stiffness affects acetabular bone response 45:02 Anterior approach resurfacing: synergy, not rivalry 55:36 Centering the guide pin and avoiding neck fracture 1:05:15 Telling a surgical fad from a real advance Listen to the AHF Podcast on your preferred platform: Buzzsprout: https://ahfpodcast.buzzsprout.com Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ahf-podcast/id1749521487 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5CrGJyvRiQFTCU3FFFVvHc LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/ahf-podcast YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@anteriorhipfoundation Homepage: https://anteriorhipfoundation.com This podcast is intended for educational and informational purposes only. The content discussed does not constitute medical advice and should not be used as a substitute for professional judgment. Clinicians should rely on their own training, experience, and clinical decision-making when applying information from this discussion. #AHFPodcast #AnteriorHipFoundation #HipResurfacing #PolyMotion #JointMedica #AnteriorApproach #HipArthroplasty #MetalOnMetal #BHR #VitaminEPolyethylene #IDEStudy #SharatKusuma #CraigDellaValle