For years, Jim Chenoweth called Clinton County, Mo., home, where he farmed and reared three sons. Since 1980, he has resided in Greene County, Mo., where he and wife are realtors. Today, he's very active, but this hasn't always been the case.

"I have end-stage osteoarthritis or degenerative joint disease," says Jim. "I know I'm not unique; a lot of people have it. In my case, it developed over many years in my left hip and became progressively painful over a period of 15 years."

His orthopaedic surgeons used a new, minimally-invasive type of surgery--called the "two-incision" method--to replace his hip. They made relatively small incisions and cut through less muscle tissue than in traditional hip replacement surgery. Jim says his recovery was faster than it would have been with more invasive surgery. He was out of the hospital sooner and back to normal quickly.

Before his surgery, Jim had continual pain in his left hip, leg, side and shoulder. He couldn't sleep or relax, and it interfered with his family life. Jim admits he became grouchy and unpleasant.

"I have no limitations now. I just walked a 120-acre real estate site--up and down hills--with no pain and no limitations. I can now take stairs--even jumping two at a time," he boasts.

Jim hopes that more doctors will be trained in these new surgical techniques. He believes that more scientific study is needed, too. "Research will help make this kind of care even safer, more effective and more widely available. Everyone benefits when surgery is less traumatic and the recovery time is shorter," he adds.

Minimally invasive techniques show great promise for joint surgery. But no matter what incision or approach is used, hip replacement is still major surgery with all of the related problems of tissue healing and overall recovery. A small, but real, percentage of major complications still exist. More studies need to be done on a significant group of patients to evaluate the long-term efficacy of these procedures.