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Hip · Dr. Tania Ferguson
Fast Track: same-day outpatient hip replacement
Fast Track is Dr. Ferguson's outpatient hip replacement program: you and a care partner are trained before surgery, so you can leave the hospital four to six hours afterwards. She has been sending patients home the same day since 2013.
The evidence
Home the same day
- of patients qualify for Fast Track
- 85%Qualify
- after surgery, you leave the hospital and recover at home
- 4–6Hours
- in the opioid-free pain plan, so you can walk within hours
- 0IV pain medication
Going home
Why recover at home
Simply put, patients who qualify for same-day discharge have better surgical outcomes and recoveries.
Less opioid medication
Patients need significantly less opioid medication.
Fewer complications
Complications related to opioids drop significantly.
Fewer transfusions
Studies show outpatient hip replacement patients need fewer blood transfusions.
A faster recovery
Studies show patients recover faster at home, and are more satisfied.
How Fast Track started
While more and more surgeons offer same-day joint replacement, Dr. Ferguson has been sending patients home on the day of surgery since 2013. It started with one patient who wanted to go home rather than stay in the hospital. She was a physical therapist at the hospital, as was her husband, and they built a pre-operative program for patients and their care partners: using a walker, managing stairs and cars, and knowing what to expect, all before surgery.
This pre-op prep school removed the need for teaching in the hospital after the operation. Today more than half of Dr. Ferguson's patients choose Fast Track, including many who travel from out of town.
Do I qualify?
About 85% of patients qualify. You'll need:
- The wish to start your recovery at home
- No significant medical conditions that need monitoring, IV medications or interventions
- A designated care partner, who comes to your pre-op appointment and stays with you at least the first night
- Planning before surgery for going home
Preparation is the key
Most of the work is done before surgery, so the days after are smooth sailing. You and your care partner are trained before the operation, and the pre-op information and rehab exercises are in the handouts on this page.
- Before surgeryYou and your care partner come to the pre-op appointment and learn the walker, stairs, cars and what to expect.
- In surgeryAnterior hip replacement, with anesthesia chosen so you can start walking within an hour.
- Within four hoursMost patients walk without any IV pain medication.
- Four to six hours afterYou leave the hospital and go home.
- The first nightYour care partner stays with you.
- At homeYour recovery continues with the Fast Track rehab exercises.
Walking within hours, without IV pain medication
A cardiac anesthesiologist helped find the anesthesia that lets patients start walking within an hour of surgery. With the pain management team, Dr. Ferguson built an opioid-free pain plan that minimizes narcotics and uses no IV pain medication.
The anterior approach is an atraumatic surgery that tends to need less pain medication than even an arthroscopic surgery. Most patients walk without any IV pain medication within four hours, and walk better, with less pain, than they could before surgery.
Your surgeon
Dr. Tania Ferguson
MD, MAS
Dr. Ferguson is a surgeon focused exclusively on the hip and pelvis. She trained under Joel Matta and Jeffrey Mast, two of the world's foremost experts in open hip surgery.
- Recognized worldwide for hip preservation and acetabular reconstruction
- Teaching the anterior approach to surgeons since 2005
- Founding member, Anterior Hip Foundation
- Trustee, AO Foundation
Before your visit
A few minutes with these now, and you walk in knowing what to ask Dr. Ferguson.
Also in Hip
Other hip problems Dr. Ferguson treats
Talk to Dr. Ferguson about your hip.
We call you back within one business day.
Request an appointmentRather talk it through?
Call (615) 329-2520