NEWS & EVENTS

FLOYD LANDIS One Month Medical Progress Update
Brent W. Kay, M.D.
October 31, 2006

On Wednesday Sept 27, Floyd Landis underwent a state of the art hip resurfacing procedure at OASIS Healthsouth Surgery Center in San Diego.  The surgery was performed by Dr. David Chao in consultation Dr. Ronan Treacy.  I was in the operating room during the surgery and have since coordinated Floyd’s post operative care and return to training while Dr. John Waite supervised physical therapy.

Floyd, Dr. Chao and I investigated many options for the hip surgery in the months following the Tour de France. In the end, we chose the Birmingham Hip Resurfacing System rather than the traditional replacement. We decided that this was the best choice given Floyd’s desire to return to an active lifestyle and would greatly increase his chances of making a return to racing at the highest level.

Floyd’s surgery was performed without complications and he tolerated the procedure well.  According to Dr. David Chao, “As expected he had considerable damage to his hip from the original accident and the subsequent avascular necrosis.  The intraoperative findings confirmed what we already knew; he had significant shortening and collapse of his femoral head.  This resulted in not only a painful hip, but one where he was at a mechanical disadvantage when riding.  Fortunately, we were able to resurface his hip (to relieve pain) and lengthening his hip (to regain lost mechanical advantage).”

Following surgery he spent the night in the exclusive 23 hour stay unit and was discharged in the following morning.

The first few days after surgery very went well and his surgical wound healed without complications. His physical therapist Dr. John Waite notes, “He started physical therapy about 48 hours following the operation.  His progress went very well.  He has had minimal swelling or pain. Floyd’s range of motion and strength progressed rapidly with stretching and manual therapy. We progressed cautiously to ensure protection of the surgical site made sure that we stuck to the parameters that would be best for healing.”