South Peninsula Hospital now offers total hip replacement surgeries locally through South Peninsula Orthopedics.
Dr. Lars Matkin completed the first local, total hip replacement surgery in at least 20 years back in January. Matkin — who was born and raised in Homer before attending Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth — joins South Peninsula Orthopedics and its two full-time orthopedic surgeons, Dr. Brent Adcox and Dr. Kurt Mentzer. Collectively, they will offer a full range of orthopedic services going forward, including sports medicine, orthopedic surgeries, total joint replacements, and care for cervical and lumbar spinal disorders.
According to a January press release from SPH, the hip replacement recipient was Homer resident, Michael Craig, who “expressed delight in being able to access this expertise in Homer,” and was up and walking within hours after his surgery.
“I really don’t like driving and I really want to get my care locally,” Craig was quoted as saying.
The population of aging residents on the peninsula has grown in recent years, meaning that there was an increasing need for this kind of local care. According to statistics provided by South Peninsula Hospital, 38.6% of southern Kenai Peninsula residents are over 55 years old. That’s compared to 26% in Alaska overall and 31% in the nation.
Matkin said in an interview on Wednesday, Feb. 26 that it’s been fun to practice medicine in the community he grew up in because of those community connections. He also noted that it’s exciting to work with Dr. Adcox again, who he credits with setting him on the path to orthopedics.
“I was actually rotated there (South Peninsula Hospital) as a med student when I was at Dartmouth. They had a family rotation in Ninilchik through the Ninilchik Clinic and then I came down and did some time in the emergency room. During that time, I ended up working with Dr. Adcox and started doing cases with him. That was what got me going down the road to ortho.”
As far as the process surrounding the surgery, Matkin said that once they’ve decided a total hip replacement is necessary, patients have an appointment two weeks before surgery to make sure they’re ready and cleared. On the day of the surgery, patients undergo either spinal or general anesthesia, with the surgery itself only taking about an hour. Within a couple of hours, patients are back up and walking.
“I’d say about 70% of my patients up here go home the same day as the surgery,” Matkin told the Homer News.
The surgery is an anterior total hip replacement, which Matkin explained as a “muscle-sparing approach.”
“We find that patients recover much faster and are more active afterward,” he said.
After surgery, there are at least two check-ins at two and six weeks out. These check-ins are offered locally as well, sparing recovering patients from the stress or inconvenience of having to travel out of town.
Matkin said that by the two-week visit, most people are walking without an assist, and at six weeks most patients are either as good or better than they were before surgery.
“And then really, at that point, it’s kind of all just better every day,” he said.
While his main practice is based in Anchorage, Matkin will be traveling to Homer every two weeks to assist patients.
“I’m always happy to help and it’s really fun for me to be down there.”
South Peninsula Orthopedics is located at 4201 Bartlett Street. Appointments can be made by calling 907-235-0310.
Reach reporter Chloe Pleznac at chloe.pleznac@homernews.com.
