United StatesI had a BHR (Hip Resurfacing) on 12/1/17 and I'm now agonizing over the decision to either remove a bone fragment (a decent size bone spur that broke off my femoral neck, likely from impinging repeatedly on the cup) or do a revision to a THR.
I've been experiencing very sharp pains, popping noises, and "catching" of the hip with flexion and extension, on again and off again for 6 months now, ever since my xray showed that the bone spur broke off and has been moving around ever since. The pain is in the area where the fragment shows up on the xray, so maybe it is irritating/spasming tissue but the 6 surgeons I have spoken with are hesitant to diagnose that as my entire pain source since they "don't think a bone fragment like that should cause such intense pain".
Complicating issues is that for several months I've had a sort of "all around the joint" achy/stiff/numb/tingly type pain that is there all the time now. That pain, along some clunking of the hip with chromium of 3.9 and cobalt of 2.6 which are "not terrible but slightly elevated" and an MRI result of a fluid collection of 52cm at its largest measurement (I guess anything over 50cm is "concerning"), have led to a "gray area" type possible diagnosis of Adverse Reaction to Metal Debris. That would mean that a revision to a THR would be advised, retaining the metal cup and installing a dual mobility femoral head component.
Due to the weird combination of things going on, none of the 6 surgeons I've spoken with have given any strong recommendation of doing one thing over the other, some have said maybe the scope to remove the bone fragment would be a less invasive thing to try first before doing the THR revision since my xrays don't show anything "wrong" with my hip resurfacing. My original surgeon, who is very experienced and well regarded locally, has also not given me clear recommendations but seemed to think the scope might not be worth "trying" only to figure out that i needed a revision anyway.
I'm having a hard time deciding if "trying" the scope is worth it, if it is going to be a difficult recover just for that anyway. If my gut is telling me that my body just might not like the metal on metal resurfacing implant. I'm trying to just wait as long as I can to see if anything just resolves itself or I get more clues but the popping and sharp pain sensation seems to be getting more frequent over the months, from simple things like getting up off the toilet or going up stairs in my house :-(
Any advice on how difficult or risk a scope would be to "try" first? I've heard the recovery is just as hard as a THR, maybe even harder?
I've been experiencing very sharp pains, popping noises, and "catching" of the hip with flexion and extension, on again and off again for 6 months now, ever since my xray showed that the bone spur broke off and has been moving around ever since. The pain is in the area where the fragment shows up on the xray, so maybe it is irritating/spasming tissue but the 6 surgeons I have spoken with are hesitant to diagnose that as my entire pain source since they "don't think a bone fragment like that should cause such intense pain".
Complicating issues is that for several months I've had a sort of "all around the joint" achy/stiff/numb/tingly type pain that is there all the time now. That pain, along some clunking of the hip with chromium of 3.9 and cobalt of 2.6 which are "not terrible but slightly elevated" and an MRI result of a fluid collection of 52cm at its largest measurement (I guess anything over 50cm is "concerning"), have led to a "gray area" type possible diagnosis of Adverse Reaction to Metal Debris. That would mean that a revision to a THR would be advised, retaining the metal cup and installing a dual mobility femoral head component.
Due to the weird combination of things going on, none of the 6 surgeons I've spoken with have given any strong recommendation of doing one thing over the other, some have said maybe the scope to remove the bone fragment would be a less invasive thing to try first before doing the THR revision since my xrays don't show anything "wrong" with my hip resurfacing. My original surgeon, who is very experienced and well regarded locally, has also not given me clear recommendations but seemed to think the scope might not be worth "trying" only to figure out that i needed a revision anyway.
I'm having a hard time deciding if "trying" the scope is worth it, if it is going to be a difficult recover just for that anyway. If my gut is telling me that my body just might not like the metal on metal resurfacing implant. I'm trying to just wait as long as I can to see if anything just resolves itself or I get more clues but the popping and sharp pain sensation seems to be getting more frequent over the months, from simple things like getting up off the toilet or going up stairs in my house :-(
Any advice on how difficult or risk a scope would be to "try" first? I've heard the recovery is just as hard as a THR, maybe even harder?
