Gone are the days when young, active patients crippled from hip arthritis were told to shut up and put up with it. Thanks to the pioneering efforts of Mr Derek McMinn, there is now an enduring solution to victims of this generation – Hip Resurfacing.
Mr. McMinn is one of the world’s leading hip and knee experts. Graduating from St Thomas' Hospital in London, he moved to Birmingham and on to some of the top joint replacement centres around the world to train under renowned surgeons such as Bucholz, Engelbrecht, Insall, Wagner, Ranawat and Harris, learning the finer points of primary and revision surgery.
Working as an Orthopaedic Consultant and as the Director of the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital in Birmingham, he developed expertise in complex hip and knee reconstructions. And, often confronted by the poor results of conventional hip replacement in young patients, he took up the challenge of developing an alternative treatment.
A few of the many contributions of Mr McMinn to arthroplasty include the introduction of the McMinn Resurfacing in 1991, the Birmingham Hip Resurfacing (BHR) in 1997, the Birmingham Mid-Head Resection (BMHR) device in 2003 and the Birmingham Knee Replacement (BKR) in 2007. In addition he has developed other high performance hip and knee implants and instruments to provide a comprehensive range of solutions for the whole spectrum of joint disorders. Alongside the development of these various devices, he has perfected the surgical techniques for their safe implantation. He has personally performed over 3500 hip resurfacings and over 6000 total hip replacements, restoring the quality of life in many young and active patients including many high profile athletes. He has also trained surgeons from the UK and around the world in his technique.
Mr McMinn is in constant demand at Orthopaedic Conferences around the world to address surgeons and to present his ongoing research work. He has addressed international conferences organized by the American, Canadian, British, European, Australian, Asia-Pacific and Japanese Orthopaedic Associations and several others as a distinguished guest lecturer. In addition to receiving honours of distinction from several quarters, the University of Birmingham has conferred on him the degree of Doctor of Medicine Honoris Causa in recognition of his sterling contributions to research and development.
Mr McMinn’s passion for meticulous surgery and precise implantation are reflected in his unparalleled success rate. Visiting surgeons have expressed time and again that it is a treat to watch him operate. Today there is study after scientific study proving the effectiveness of Mr McMinn’s techniques… and story after individual success story coming from his patients.
