It seems logical that, for a treatment to be effective, it needs to be appropriate for the condition. But where hip disorders are concerned, the equation can be complicated by variables, says Christopher Anthony, MD.
Getting the diagnosis correct is the most complex part of the process. Young adults, especially, can be misdiagnosed,” Dr. Anthony says.
Earlier this year, Dr. Anthony was appointed Associate Director of the Penn Hip Preservation Center, which distinguishes itself as one of the few comprehensive centers in the region that provides the full gamut of surgical and nonsurgical hip preservation treatment options.
“We’re able to take a holistic view of the hip and consider both non operative and operative options including hip arthroscopy, osteotomies of the pelvis and femur as well as labrum and cartilage treatments in the hip,” says Dr. Anthony, who is also an Assistant Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at the Perelman School of Medicine.
The center is designed to help active adults of all ages who are hindered by a hip disorder alleviate their pain, restore their range of movement, and prevent future joint disease. Left untreated, many chronic hip conditions can lead to osteoarthritis and eventual hip replacement, a procedure Dr. Anthony also performs.
“Getting the diagnosis correct is the most complex part of the process. Young adults, especially, can be misdiagnosed,” Dr. Anthony says.
The procedures employed by the center were developed between 15 and 30 years ago, so the data on their outcomes is well-established, Dr. Anthony says. “Which is to say that for a correctly diagnosed patient, if we do the right procedure at the right time, the outcomes can result in preservation of the hip 80 to 90 percent of the time,” he says.
A native Iowan, Dr. Anthony was a two-time captain of the Iowa State University football team. He was also named All-Big 12 Conference honorable mention as a wide receiver during his sophomore and senior seasons. He then played in the Arena Football League, where he was a standout wide receiver for the New York Dragons, scoring more than 100 touchdowns over the course of six seasons (including the postseason). He also served as vice president of the Arena Football League Players Association.
“I spent my whole life dedicated to figuring out how I could move better and more efficiently,” he says. “When my playing career was coming to an end, a point I saw coming well before it actually arrived, I wanted to help others optimize their movement. That’s why I chose orthopaedics.”
Following his football career, Dr. Anthony earned his medical degree at the Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine at the University of Iowa. He did his orthopaedic surgery residency at the University of Iowa and a fellowship in joint preservation, resurfacing, and replacement at Washington University, in St. Louis.
Dr. Anthony says he went into hip preservation, specifically, because, even though the data for the various procedures is fairly deep, the field itself is relatively young, and he wanted to be an integral part of its evolution.
“Hip replacements have been around for over 50 years. They have excellent outcomes,” Dr. Anthony says. “But I saw an opportunity to do this tried-and-true procedure (hip replacements) while also trying to figure out how to better preserve the hip so that I would ultimately do fewer hip replacements.”
It’s also enabled him to remain closely aligned with athletes. He estimates that about half of his current patients are under 50, many of them athletes to some degree.
“There are, primarily, two hip conditions I treat in young adults, hip impingement and hip dysplasia. Both are common causes for osteoarthritis in older adults,” Dr. Anthony says. “So, we have two goals with their treatment: One, to help with their current symptoms and get them back to playing or just living their lives pain-free. And two, to correct the condition so that it either pushes back or eliminates altogether the downstream possibility of osteoarthritis.”
As the hip center’s Associate Director, he plans to spend the coming months heightening awareness about it as a truly comprehensive center in and around Greater Philadelphia area, and, eventually, on a broader scale.