Kenny Guinn Governor has right hip replaced and plans to replace left one too

Gov. Kenny Guinn underwent a successful hip replacement surgery Tuesday at a Southern Nevada hospital and was resting comfortably after the one-hour procedure, first lady Dema Guinn said.

The surgery was performed by Dr. Todd Swanson, an orthopedic surgeon who is credited with playing a role in developing the state-of-the-art procedure used to replace the governor's right hip.

The procedure, performed at the Spring Valley Hospital Medical Center in Las Vegas, used a minimally invasive technique that allows patients to recover more quickly.

"The patient is doing fine," Dema Guinn said. "He's doing just great.

"Kenny came through the surgery beautifully," she said. "Hopefully, he will be able to be up and around soon without the pain he was feeling before the operation."

Naomi Jones, a hospital spokeswoman, said that the operation went well and that no complications occurred from the surgery, which is referred to as a "mini hip."

Kenny Guinn, 69, is expected to remain at the hospital until Thursday or Friday.

Swanson is expected to answer questions at a news conference today.

On his Web site, Swanson said he has performed more than 1,500 of the hip replacements since 1997.

He has performed about 380 such procedures at Spring Valley since it opened in 2003.

The procedure requires an incision of about 3 to 4 inches, one-third the size of incisions in traditional hip replacement surgery.

Smaller incisions typically cause less body trauma, pain and blood loss. And they usually help shorten recovery time.

Small instruments are used to remove the damaged ball-and-socket hip and replace it with a metal-and-plastic implant. Ligaments, muscles and tendons are avoided, rather than cut as in traditional surgery.

Patients usually are discharged within 24 to 48 hours, compared with a three- to five-day average length of stay after traditional hip surgery. Recovery includes a four- to six-week rehabilitation program. A traditional total hip replacement requires six to eight weeks on crutches or walker and three to four months total recovery time.

As required by state law, Lt. Gov. Lorraine Hunt was serving as acting governor until sometime today, when the governor was expected to be back on the job.

"We expect him to function as governor (today) even though he is still in the hospital," Guinn spokesman Steve George said.

Hunt said her job was to "keep the ship on course."

"All kinds of things are happening moment to moment," she said. "I will do what is necessary to take care of the people's business."

Dema Guinn said that the governor was in a lot of pain from the damaged right hip, and that she was concerned about him during his recent trip to Iraq and Afghanistan.

"But it didn't hold him back," she said by telephone from the hospital.

He will have the left hip replaced in the coming months, she said. But the right hip was giving him the most trouble.

"He expects a full recovery," she said. "He's supposed to be up and walking (today)."

The deterioration of his hip joints is likely from several factors, Dema Guinn said.

"He played football and basketball," she said. "He was a swimmer. He's always been extremely active, and he has to stand on his feet a lot."

The governor was awake from time to time Tuesday, and he should be back in the capital by Tuesday or Wednesday, she said.

The type of surgery was chosen in part because of the quick recovery time, she said.

"That's the way he is," Dema Guinn said. "He doesn't want to be away from work."

The operation is the second major surgery for Kenny Guinn in his time as governor. He is in the last year of his second four-year term.

He underwent prostate surgery in September 2002 at the UCLA Medical Center. The procedure was performed by Dr. Jean B. deKernion, chairman of the Department of Urology at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Dema Guinn said the decision to have the hip replacement surgery performed in Las Vegas was on the advice of his personal physician, Dr. Ikram Khan, who attended the procedure.

"His children wanted him here," she said. "His doctors preferred to have him here."

A day earlier, the governor was in Las Vegas with health care professionals touting a new state cancer plan. He said he hoped one day to hear that people are coming to Nevada to get second opinions on their medical care.

Dema Guinn said the decision to have the prostate surgery in California came after a lot of research. The same process was used to choose Swanson and have the surgery performed in Southern Nevada, she said.

One of Swanson's more prominent patients was actor Pat Morita, who received a total hip replacement from the surgeon. Morita, who died last year of organ failure, has said Swanson and his staff were "the most professional group of medical people" that he could have hoped for.

Swanson has done studies on the mini-hip procedure, comparing its success with that of traditional hip replacement.

Dr. John D. Reneau, director of inpatient rehabilitation at Spring Valley, who could not comment specifically about Guinn's recovery, said that the main goal is to get the patient up and walking as much as they can tolerate.

"Initially, that would involve walking with an assisted device such as a walker for a brief period of time and then transition them to a cane,'' he said. "But, a lot of patients are able to transition from the walker to walking without the cane.''