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Everything went well: Chief physician Dr. Jens Peters (l.) and Detlev Heise (66) from Syke, for whom he implanted a new hip on an outpatient basis at the clinic in Sulingen. Anke Seidel © Anke Seidel
Sulingen’s chief physician Jens Peters fulfilled the wish of 66-year-old Detlev Heise – and implanted his new hip on an outpatient basis.
Sulingen/Syke – Detlev Heise from Syke is happy: Chief physician Dr. Jens Peters implanted a new hip in Sulingen Hospital – without the 66-year-old having to stay in the hospital even one night. The healing process proceeds without complications.
“Some people thought I was crazy,” says Detlev Heise with a smile about the reactions of people to whom he told about his dream. They considered outpatient hip surgery impossible.
Flashback: For two-time dog owner Detlev Heise, outpatient surgery appears to be the only option in order not to put excessive stress on his four-legged friends. He also finds hospital stays to be anything but healing.
More than 40 rejections
Diagnosis of hip osteoarthritis: The Syker suffered from pain for a year and a half before he decided to have the operation – and collected information about it on the Internet. “It was then that I realized that hip surgery was also possible on an outpatient basis.” This is standard in the USA, he reads, and also for outpatient operations in southern German clinics. But these are out of the question for the 66-year-old with two dogs from animal welfare.
That’s why he inquires about such a possibility in northern German clinics, especially in large cities. “I called more than 40 clinics,” reports Detlev Heise – all of them refused. “The Paracelsus Clinic in Bremen offered me a three-day stay,” says Syker, looking back.
“I hadn’t even had Sulingen on my radar”
By chance he heard about the orthopedics, neurosurgery and spine surgery department at the Sulingen Clinic. The 66-year-old admits: “I hadn’t even had Sulingen on my radar!”
He is still grateful today for the telephone conversation he had with chief secretary Bianca Comte: “She told me that Dr. Peters hasn’t had an outpatient hip operation yet, but she wants to talk to him.” Detlev Heise now knows that the clinic in Sulingen has a high number of operations in this specialist department, but after the more than 40 rejections, he doesn’t really expect a confirmation .
But during a walk in the forest his cell phone rings: Bianca Comte shows him an option. She added that the head doctor would want to keep him in the clinic for one night. “Dr. Peters then called me, which I thought was really great,” reports the 66-year-old.
He decides to have the operation in Sulingen and clarifies all the requirements. This is followed by preliminary examinations and the anesthesia discussion. On September 30th, he comes in for the operation at 7 a.m. – not without first signing that he is undergoing this procedure at his own risk. “I returned home at 6 p.m.,” says Detlev Heise, looking back. “I went for a walk for half an hour in the evening, I was on cloud nine!” The artificial joint now replaces Detlev Heise’s femoral head and hip socket.
“What we have done here is practice in other countries such as the USA,” explains Dr. Jens Peters for outpatient hip surgery. “If the patient is the right one, then it can be done.”
“The right patient”
During the preliminary discussions and examinations, the chief physician found out that the 66-year-old from Syke was the right patient for his first outpatient hip operation: He is not overweight, has a good constitution – and, above all, a burning desire to do just that to get a new hip.
But that alone is not enough: important organizational issues, physiotherapeutic treatment and aftercare must be clarified in advance: In short: a completely new treatment regimen must be integrated into everyday hospital life.
Hip surgery is of course always associated with a certain risk, says Dr. Peters is fundamentally firm. But the treatment can be shortened significantly – although not for all patients. So far, there are no regional structures for postoperative physiotherapy or lymphatic drainage – but this is necessary if outpatient hip operations are generally offered.
When inserting the endoprosthesis, the Sulingen chief physician uses a method in which – after a small incision in the groin – no muscles are injured and therefore there is less bleeding and less pain.
The procedure is standard at the Sulinger Clinic. Dr. has made almost 800 prostheses. Peters and his team implanted 2023, almost 400 of which were hip prostheses. In the case of Detlev Heise, the healing process follows a typical course, the head physician notes with satisfaction.
Meanwhile, his patient from Syke is looking forward to a new, unusual project: He keeps his old biological hip joint ball, which is now being replaced by a new one, in a well-preserved state at home: “It will become the knob on a walking stick.”
