Dr. Harris performs primary hip and knee replacement, partial knee replacement, and revision (redo) surgery of the hip and knee, from a first-time joint to the most complex revision.
Surgery is rarely the first step, and when it is the right step, understanding it clearly makes every part of recovery easier.
Most hip and knee arthritis is managed first without an operation: activity modification, physical therapy, weight management, anti-inflammatory medication, and injections. Joint replacement enters the conversation when those measures no longer provide enough relief to do the things you care about: walking without planning around pain, sleeping through the night, keeping up with family.
The sections below explain each procedure clearly: what it involves, when it’s considered, and how the options differ. Every recommendation is individualized based on your symptoms, examination, and imaging. There is no one-size-fits-all operation.
The hip is a ball-and-socket joint. When the smooth cartilage lining the joint wears away, most often from osteoarthritis, the common “wear-and-tear” form of arthritis, bone begins to rub on bone, causing pain, stiffness, and a shrinking radius of activity. A hip replacement removes the worn ball and socket and replaces them with implants sized and positioned to recreate your anatomy.
Hip replacement is one of the most reliable operations in all of surgery: for most patients it means dramatic pain relief and a return to walking, cycling, golf, travel, and daily life without thinking about the hip.
When it adds value, Dr. Harris plans the operation from your own imaging and uses robotic assistance and computer navigation to position the new joint precisely, fitting the socket to your anatomy to help lower the chance of dislocation.
There are two main surgical approaches to the hip. Both are safe, both work well, and Dr. Harris performs both; the recommendation depends on your anatomy, imaging, and health history, not a one-approach-fits-all philosophy.
From the front of the hip · Dr. Harris’s preferred approach
This is the approach Dr. Harris prefers for most hip replacements. It reaches the hip by working between the muscles rather than cutting through them, which for many patients can mean less discomfort early on, a quicker return to walking, and added protection against the joint slipping out of place. When your anatomy is a good fit, he can perform it through a “bikini” incision, a shorter cut that follows the natural crease of the skin, leaving a lower, more discreet scar. Some patients notice a small patch of numbness on the outer thigh, which usually fades over time.
A modern, tissue-sparing approach from the back of the hip
Dr. Harris performs the STAR approach (Superior Transverse Anatomic Reconstruction), an updated version of the traditional approach from the back of the hip. It gives a clear, complete view of the joint while preserving the muscles and tendons that help keep the hip steady, structures that older techniques often divided. Protecting them helps lower the chance of the joint slipping out of place and supports a smoother, more confident recovery.
Despite the name, a knee replacement is closer to a resurfacing. The worn cartilage and a thin layer of bone are removed from the ends of the thigh bone and shin bone, then capped with smooth metal and plastic surfaces, much like a dentist crowns a damaged tooth. Your own muscles and most ligaments remain, which is why rehabilitation is so central to a good result.
It’s considered when arthritis pain limits daily life despite non-surgical treatment, most often from osteoarthritis (the everyday “wear-and-tear” arthritis), but also inflammatory arthritis or arthritis that develops years after a knee injury.
Most knee replacements are done through a standard approach, but for some patients another option is a subvastus (muscle-sparing) technique that slips beneath the quadriceps muscle instead of cutting through the tendon. Whether it fits depends on your anatomy, and Dr. Harris will discuss it when it’s appropriate.
Most patients are up and walking the day of surgery. Recovery is real work, a structured physical therapy program matters as much as the operation itself, with the large majority of improvement in the first three months and continued gains up to a year.
For many knees, Dr. Harris uses robotic assistance and computer navigation to fine-tune implant position and balance the soft tissues, so the knee feels stable and natural through its full range of motion. Modern implants are durable, too: large registry studies show most knee replacements still working well beyond 20 years.
For arthritis throughout the knee
All three compartments of the knee are resurfaced. This is the most common knee replacement and the right choice when wear involves most of the joint. It offers excellent, durable pain relief.
For wear limited to one part of the knee
Only the damaged part of the knee is resurfaced; healthy cartilage and all the ligaments are preserved. Depending on where the wear is, this may be a medial partial knee replacement (inner side), a lateral partial knee replacement (outer side), or a patellofemoral replacement (behind the kneecap). In carefully selected knees, a partial replacement can feel more natural and recover faster. Not every knee is a candidate, the decision comes down to your examination and imaging.
A joint replacement that once worked well but now hurts, feels loose, or won’t bend the way it used to deserves a careful answer, not just reassurance.
Revision surgery removes some or all of an existing implant and rebuilds the joint, often using specialized components designed for bone that has changed since the first operation. Revision is a particular interest of Dr. Harris’s, in the operating room and in his research into why implants fail.
Another operation is not always the answer, and finding the reason a replacement is failing is as important as the surgery itself. When surgery is the right step, Dr. Harris is equipped to take on even the most complex revisions.
Any of these can be a reason to have a hip or knee replacement evaluated: