Medically reviewed by Thomas D. Ferro, M.D.
NanoHip™ surgeons perform hip replacement as an outpatient procedure. Each surgery uses a patient-specific 3D surgical plan built from your CT scan, a muscle-sparing approach, and spinal anesthesia with sedation instead of general anesthesia. Most patients are walking within hours and go home the same day.
Across more than 5,400 hip replacements, NanoHip patients routinely:
Every NanoHip procedure starts with a 3D plan built from your own CT scan, so your implant is sized, positioned and aligned to your specific anatomy before surgery begins.
NanoHip differs from a traditional hip replacement in four ways, and you can ask any surgeon about each one.
Your cup and stem are sized and positioned, and your leg length and offset are planned, on a 3D model built from your CT scan by biomedical engineers. Your surgeon approves the plan before surgery.[3]
NanoHip surgeons reach the hip between muscles rather than cutting through them. Our proprietary 3D modeling lets your surgeon choose a minimally invasive approach based on your anatomy, not on a marketing claim.
In a meta-analysis of 20 studies and more than 580,000 cases, outpatient hip replacement showed complication and readmission rates comparable to inpatient surgery.[6] In a national analysis of more than 380,000 joint replacements, spinal anesthesia was associated with lower 30-day mortality and fewer complications than general anesthesia.[5] You go home the same day.
NanoHip uses FDA-cleared implants with long registry track records. Your plan is customized; the implant and its materials are proven.
 vs
|
Traditional Hip Replacement | |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-Operative Plan |
 |
X-ray templating, often finalized in the operating room, with positioning and alignment decisions made under the time pressure of surgery |
| Surgical Approach |
|
Posterior or lateral approach through or around the hip muscles |
| Anesthesia |
|
General anesthesia, still the most common choice nationally |
| Where You Recover |
|
A hospital stay of one to three days is still common |
| Physical Therapy |
|
Several weeks of outpatient physical therapy |
Explore our nationwide network of board-certified, independent orthopedic surgeons who specialize in the NanoKnee procedure.
Vance Eberly, MD
Dr. Vance Eberly's passion for orthopedic surgery is evident in his dedication to providing personalized care for patients with musculoskeletal issues. With a focus on utilizing the latest advancem...
Kristopher Donald Collins, MD
A hip and knee replacement specialist and board-certified surgeon, Dr. Kristopher Collins, MD, is passionate about helping patients regain their mobility quickly and safely. He graduated from NYU L...
Thomas Ferro, MD
Dr. Thomas Ferro is a board-certified, fellowship-trained orthopedic surgeon with 30+ years of experience, founder of Nanoknee™, and medical director of the Nanoknee™ in Arroyo Grande, California. ...
Christopher Tkach, MD
Dr. Christopher K. Tkach is an Adult Reconstruction Specialist at NanoKnee®, specializing in advanced knee and hip replacement designed to restore mobility efficiently while preserving a natural fe...
Thomas K. Tkach, MD
Dr. Thomas Tkach, MD, is a board-certified orthopedic surgeon with over two decades of experience helping patients live with total freedom and confidence in their joints. He specializes in hip and ...
Aaron C. Eubanks, MD, FAAOS
Dr. Aaron Eubanks, MD, FAAOS, brings elite skill to every NanoKnee procedure, leveraging his fellowship training to deliver high-quality orthopedic care that gets you back to moving freely. With ov...
Eli Ahdoot, DO
As a knee and hip reconstruction specialist, Dr. Eli Ahdoot, DO, prioritizes precision through cutting-edge techniques, ensuring your new joint is strong, healthy, and anatomically aligned. He’s co...
Jonathan Saluta, MD
Board-certified and fellowship-trained, Dr. Saluta has extensive experience in treating a multitude of bone and joint issues, including fracture fixation and complex reconstruction of the hip, knee...
Obi Osuji, MD
Dr. Obi Osuji, MD, exemplifies the NanoKnee mission of helping patients reclaim their mobility and quality of life through performance-driven, precise procedures. He’s a fellowship-trained, board-c...
Daniel C. Allison, MD, FACS
NanoKnee is proud to partner with Dr. Daniel Allison, MD, FACS. A graduate of Baylor College of Medicine, Dr. Allison is a board-certified, fellowship-trained orthopedic surgeon specializing in adv...
Richard Buch, MD
NanoKnee is proud to partner with Dr. Richard Buch, MD, director of the Dallas Limb Restoration Center. As a board-certified, fellowship-trained orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Buch has built a career in r...
Greg Habib, DO
Dr. Greg Habib is an experienced orthopedic surgeon who specializes in advanced care for hips and knees, including Nano Knee and Nano Hip replacements. He serves patients across the greater Pittsbu...
Graeme Matthewson, MD
Meet Dr. Graeme Matthewson, a fellowship-trained sports medicine orthopedic surgeon at NanoKnee® helping patients move past shoulder, hip, knee, and ankle injuries and get back to the life they lov...
Timothy J. Henderson, MD
Getting back to the life you love shouldn't wait. Dr. Timothy J. Henderson brings advanced surgical training and a same-day approach to hip and knee replacement, so patients can move forward with c...
Your hip replacement is done as an outpatient procedure under spinal anesthesia with sedation, so you are comfortable and unaware during the operation without a general anesthetic. Surgery typically takes about 90 minutes to two hours. You will be helped to your feet within hours of the procedure, and most patients go home the same day. Your new hip can bear weight right away.
Well-positioned hip replacements last decades. The largest analysis of national joint registries found that about 89% of hip replacements are still in place at 15 years, 70% at 20 years, and 58% at 25 years.[1] NanoHip combines patient-specific implant positioning with modern implant designs to help your implant last without activity restrictions. Component position is crucial to implant longevity, which is why NanoHip creates an individualized map of your anatomy before surgery.
NanoHip optimizes the factors within the surgical team's control. Every NanoHip procedure starts with a CT-based 3D plan in which biomedical engineers size the cup and stem to your bone and plan their position, leg length and offset before surgery, and your surgeon approves the plan.
In a 200-patient comparison, CT-based 3D planning predicted the correct stem size 88% of the time versus 69% for X-ray templating, and the correct cup size 96% versus 56%. It reduced offset errors of more than 3 mm from 23% to 5%, and stems placed in varus from 10% to 2%. The 3D-planned group also had no early fractures or subsidence, against three in the X-ray group.[3]
NanoHip uses FDA-cleared implants with long registry track records, combined with our proprietary 3D modeling to optimize implant placement while minimizing soft tissue trauma.
If you have been told you need a hip replacement and you want to recover at home, stay active, and have your implant planned for your own anatomy, you are likely a candidate. NanoHip was developed for active patients who want the highest level of function after surgery, including younger patients and older adults. Candidacy is confirmed at your consultation, where your Nano surgeon will determine the best path forward for your unique needs.
Non-surgical options your surgeon may recommend first include activity modification and weight management, physical therapy, over-the-counter or prescription anti-inflammatory medication, and corticosteroid injections. Your NanoHip surgeon will review your imaging and history and recommend the plan that fits your condition. For arthritis that has progressed past those options, hip replacement offers consistent long-term results.
Leg length and offset (how far your hip sits from the midline) are planned before surgery on your 3D model, so your surgeon enters the operating room with a target for each. In a 200-patient comparison, CT-based 3D planning reduced offset errors of more than 3 mm from 23% of patients to 5%.[3]
NanoHip is a minimally invasive hip replacement. Muscle-sparing approaches reach the hip joint between muscles rather than cutting through them, and randomized trials report an easier first few weeks with these approaches.[7] For returning to an active lifestyle, though, precise restoration of your anatomy matters more than the incision. A correctly sized, correctly positioned implant determines how the hip performs for years, and that is decided in your 3D plan before surgery.[3]
NanoHip surgeons use spinal (regional) anesthesia with “twilight” sedation, so you are comfortable and unaware during surgery without a general anesthetic. Spinal anesthesia has been associated with lower 30-day mortality and fewer complications than general anesthesia in a national analysis of more than 380,000 joint replacements.[5] General anesthesia is used only when it is the safer choice for a particular patient.
No. NanoHip procedures are performed on an outpatient basis, and most patients leave the surgery center or hospital about two hours after their procedure. In a meta-analysis of 20 studies, outpatient and inpatient hip replacement showed no differences in complications, and outpatient patients could recover in the comfort of their own homes.[6] Your surgeon will confirm that same-day discharge is appropriate for you.
A NanoHip procedure typically takes about 90 minutes to two hours. Because implant sizes, positions, leg length and offset are decided in your 3D plan before surgery, fewer decisions are made under time pressure in the operating room. Your NanoHip surgeon enters the operating room with insights from NanoKnee’s proprietary 3D Blueprinting® plan, offered nowhere else.
Most NanoHip patients are walking within hours of surgery and doing light activities in the first week. As a general guide:
Recovery varies from patient to patient.
Most NanoHip patients recover with a surgeon-guided home exercise program; formal outpatient physical therapy is arranged when your surgeon recommends it. You begin walking the day of surgery and progress to strengthening, cycling and low-impact activities such as swimming once your incision has healed, usually within two weeks. The NanoKnee app lets you track your progress and communicate directly with your care team.
Most NanoHip patients return to the activities they enjoy, including walking, cycling, golf, swimming, hiking, tennis, running and skiing, without restrictions. Across 37 studies of 6,485 hip replacement patients, more than 80% returned to the level of sport they had before their symptoms began, at an average of about five months, most often to low- and moderate-impact activities.[8]
Most patients regain the full motion needed for daily life and sport, and many regain motion they had lost over years of arthritis. Your 3D plan positions the cup and stem to restore your hip's center of rotation and offset, which supports a stable hip through its range of motion. Improvement continues over the first year, and our goal is for every patient to regain the mobility they lost to arthritis and wear.
You will have a single incision, typically 4 to 6 inches, closed with absorbable sutures and a cosmetic closure to minimize scarring. The skin is generally healed within two weeks, and you will protect the area for several weeks after that.
The risks of standard hip replacement include infection, blood clots, dislocation, fracture, a difference in leg length, nerve injury, implant loosening over time, and the risks of anesthesia. NanoHip's standard choices address specific risks: spinal anesthesia is associated with fewer perioperative complications than general anesthesia,[5] and pre-operative 3D planning targets the component position, leg length and offset problems that underlie instability and loosening, the two leading causes of revision.[2][3] Your surgeon will review the risks that apply to you and lay out a plan that minimizes your specific risk factors.
Yes. Hip replacement is one of the most successful operations in medicine. The American Joint Replacement Registry has recorded more than 4.4 million hip and knee replacements since 2012,[9] and in a study of 850 hip replacement patients, only 7% were dissatisfied one year after surgery.[4]
Serious complications are uncommon, and some risks depend on choices made before surgery. In a national analysis of more than 380,000 joint replacements, spinal anesthesia was associated with lower 30-day mortality and fewer in-hospital complications than general anesthesia.[5] NanoHip procedures are performed under spinal anesthesia with sedation by board-certified orthopedic surgeons, and our proprietary 3D modeling supports consistent implant placement and a muscle-sparing approach tailored to your anatomy.
Yes. Hip replacement is performed routinely in older adults with advanced arthritis and can substantially improve mobility and quality of life. Candidacy depends on general health rather than age alone, and every NanoHip patient is evaluated before surgery. Spinal anesthesia, which NanoHip uses as standard, is associated with fewer perioperative complications than general anesthesia.[5]
Hip replacement is covered by Medicare and most commercial health plans when medically necessary. The pre-operative 3D planning and engineering is not covered by insurance; depending on your plan, you may be responsible for up to $8,500. Our patient navigators will confirm your coverage and any out-of-pocket cost before you commit to surgery, and financing is offered for non-covered portions.
No robot is used in the operating room, and your surgeon performs the procedure. AI is used only before surgery, to help our biomedical engineers build a 3D model from your CT scan; your surgeon reviews and approves the final plan. NanoHip's precision comes from that pre-operative plan, not from technology in the operating room.
