On 1 February 2024, Bays surgeon Dr Andrew Chia demonstrated the minimally invasive anterior hip replacement technique – called Bikini Total Hip Replacement (THR) – for two surgeons visiting from Tominaga Hospital in Osaka, Japan.
Dr Chia travelled to Japan in October 2023, as a guest of Medacta Japan, to help surgeons Dr Aikitomo Inoue and Dr Hirohiko Yasui learn the Bikini THR technique, which is an evolution of the standard anterior THR approach.
In Japan, Dr Inoue and Dr Yasui performed a Bikini approach, with Dr Chia providing technique tips during the surgery. Dr Chia then invited them to visit Australia to further their technique knowledge by observing as he performed a few THR operations at The Bays Hospital.
Dr Chia is one of the most experienced surgeons using the Bikini THR technique in Australia, having performed it for more than 10 years, and uses it for all his THR cases. Dr Chia also presented his Bikini THR technique at the 50th annual meeting of the Japan Hip Society in Fukuoka.
Find out more about Dr Andrew Chia.
Donate your hip bone to change lives
The Bays continues to support eligible hip surgery patients to donate their femoral head to the Australian Tissue Donation Network, to help heal and change lives.
While the femoral head would normally be discarded, by donating this bone, bone grafts can be made which will help up to four people with various types of orthopaedic and spinal injuries.
Our Pre-Admission Clinic check patients’ suitability to donate their bone, and in the 2022-23 financial year, there were 102 femoral heads donated. Due to strict tissue donation criteria and regulations, not all interested patients are able to participate but more than half of our patients referred to the program were able to donate their bone.