[Expats & Ailments] Shanghai Surgeons Use Innovative Technique to Restore Mobility in 24 Hours

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One day after undergoing minimally invasive, muscle-sparing hip replacement surgery at Shanghai Sixth People's Hospital, a 76-year-old Canadian mental health specialist was able to walk normally again.

Dr Michael Robert Phillips has worked in the field of mental health in China for almost 50 years. In addition to being a recipient of the Shanghai Magnolia Gold Award, a prestigious civic distinction given by the local government to foreigners for their exceptional services to the city, he has long worked on suicide research and prevention at the Shanghai Mental Health Center.

Additionally, he has led numerous epidemiological surveys in isolated mountainous areas of Gansu and Ningxia. His hip joint sustained cumulative, significant injury from years of traveling across difficult terrain.

Two years ago, he started experiencing modest hip pain, which progressively worsened into crippling, persistent pain. The lifelong frontline care giver was locked in constant physical distress due to his severely restricted movement and sleep-depriving nightly agony.

Phillips consulted Dr Zhang Changqing at Shanghai Sixth People's Hospital after his wife had a successful hip replacement procedure there in late 2024.

In mid-June, Zhang replaced his hip using a minimally invasive procedure. He used the direct anterior approach (DAA), an inventive technique that reaches the hip joint through natural muscle gaps without stripping or cutting any muscle tissue, in contrast to traditional surgical approaches. The surrounding soft tissues and muscular attachments are completely preserved with this technique.

He made an exceptional recovery from surgery, claiming substantial pain relief a day after the surgery. To the amazement and relief of the entire medical team, he was able to walk normally with almost a complete functional range of motion in his hip.

Dr Zhang explained that traditional hip replacement requires cutting and detaching major muscle groups, which translates to lengthy tendon repair and muscle strength rehabilitation post-surgery. The DAA minimally invasive approach, by contrast, greatly reduces surgical trauma and postoperative pain. It removes the need for targeted tendon rehabilitation training, drastically shortening recovery time, substantially easing post-op discomfort, and preserving patients' native physical function.

"I had reservations about having surgery at first," Phillips said. "However, more than a year ago, my wife had a hip replacement due to arthritis, and she recovered flawlessly with no residual pain. Her successful outcome gave me total faith in this process."

"We develop and apply minimally invasive techniques not as a display of advanced technology, but to lessen patients' suffering, speed up their recovery, and enable them to resume normal life and carry on with their life's important work at the earliest opportunity," Zhang said.

Shanghai Sixth People's Hospital

Address: 600 Yishan Rd (Xuhui Branch)

宜山路600号

Tel: 2405-6318 (International Medical Department)

E-mail: sldymb@126.com

Address: 222 Huanhuxisan Rd (Lingang Branch)

环湖西三路222号

Tel: 3829-7261 (International Medical Department)

The hospital is covered by commercial insurance.