[Total hip arthroplasty with a less invasive anterolateral approach].

Soft tissue injury in total hip replacements has recently developed into a main topic of orthopaedic surgery. The M. glutaeus medius is at risk to be injured in Watson-Jones' approach to the hip. A special technique in positioning of the leg offers the possibility to save the integrity of the muscles. While profiling the femur shaft the leg is held underneath the opposite leg in outer rotation, hyperextention and forced adduction. The advantage in comparison to other less invasive techniques is the common supine position of the patient on the table. The different technical steps are easy to achieve. Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.