THR Heterotopic Ossification after Total Hip Replacement

CalciumHip

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My 69 year old wife had her left knee replaced the end of August, 2016. A week later she fell and broke her right hip and had to have a total hip replacement. A new left knee and a new right hip within a week. She has been going to therapy for about five months. About four weeks ago she fell again but this time she didn't break or hurt anything other than a few bruises. I took her to the surgery that did the hip replacement and he took X-rays of her knee and the right hip. The good news was that nothing was hurt in the fall, the bad news was that she has developed a large amount of calcium buildup around the ball of her hip implant which is causing her limited movement and a lot more pain. The doctor advises not to go back in with surgery to remove the calcium buildup (like a bone) and that her body should absorb the calcium in about a year. She is not improving at all now and it's been five months since the surgery and we do not want to wait a year. Has anyone else had this problem?? Is it possible to do arthroscopic surgery to remove the calcium and would this be better than a full redo of the hip implant? All feedback would be appreciated. #HeterotopicOssification
 
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A lot of "views" of my posting on calcium buildup on the ball after a full hip replacement but no replies. I have read that up to 30% of people that have a HRP develop this problem. But, I am wondering if it is rarer than that. The calcium has developed into a hard/ bone like mass around the ball implant in her hip which is blocking her from crossing her legs and causing a lot more pain (especially when standing). #HeterotopicOssification
 
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Welcome to Bonesmart. We are glad you found us. Your wife has definitely gone through so much. While I don't have any info that can help you let me tag another member that can be able to assist you. @Jamie can you please comment?
 
But, I am wondering if it is rarer than that.
Well I am not a medical expert but I have been on this forum for going on 7 years and this is the first time I have seen this condition posted here. Let's see what Jamie says.
 
Thanks for your reply. This was someone that no one discussed with after the hip replacement. Of course we had no choice in having the HRP as she fell and broke her hip and had to have the surgery. The surgeon advised us that she could have a partial replacement which might wear out in the future or the full hip replacement which is what we decided to do. But no mention of calcium buildup. The first X-ray about six weeks after the surgery did not show the buildup but the one taken on Jan 11 showed a rather large amount of what the doctor advised was calcium buildup. We are going to see the other surgeon that did the full knee replacement tomorrow (Monday, Jan 30) and get his option on the hip and the calcium buildup. By-the-way, who is Jamie?? #HeterotopicOssification
 
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Hi, I'm Jamie....one of the BoneSmart forum administrators. The other, @Josephine, is currently on vacation from the forum, but as you can see I've tagged her to look at your thread when she returns. She is our forum's Nurse Director with over 50 years experience in orthopedic surgery.

I think what you're describing is called Heterotopic Ossification and it does happen sometimes with total hip replacements. I've linked an article for you about it from our BoneSmart library. It is not common and certainly doesn't occur in 30% of hip replacements. But it can be difficult to resolve without further surgery. Because of this, you want to be sure you are working with an orthopedic surgeon who deals with this problem frequently. I don't believe your current hip surgeon is that person because he has told you the body would reabsorb the calcium. I've not seen any indication in studies that shows reabsorption can occur. You need a revision specialist that works with Heterotopic Ossification. If you'd like to tell me what city you're in, I can do a little research and possibly help you find someone to talk with. #HeterotopicOssification
 
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Thanks Jamie, We live in Gainesville, Georgia USA which is about 50 miles northeast of Atlanta. Our hospital is one of the top 100 in the US, Northeast Georgia Medical Center. The surgeon we are going to see tomorrow that did her knee is associated with Northside Hospital in Cummings, GA. He is a much more experienced hip and knee surgeon in this area (Dr. DeCook). Thanks again for your advise. I would hate to sit around for a year waiting for something that is not going to happen.
 
Hopefully he has experience with this and can guide you accordingly. I agree you should not just sit around for a year waiting to see what happens.
 
Jamie, Just got home from seeing the second orthopedist surgery the one who did my wife's left knee. He took X-rays and agrees with the 1st doctor that it is what you said Heterotopic Ossification (calcium buildup) around the ball of the hip implant. He advises that to go back and do surgery now would cause more damage and create even more calcium buildup and that my wife will have to wait a year and then see how she is doing.

I asked him if he saw many cases of this and he said that only about 1-2% of hip replacement develop this condition and that he has not seem many. The amount of calcium in my wife's right hip would be very difficult to remove without a full open hip surgery.

If you know of any doctors who deal with this condition on a regular basic I would really like to have their names and contact info (no matter where in the USA they are). Of course in the Southeast would be better but I'm sure I could communicate with a doctor in another part of the country.

This is so discouraging but then I guess you hear from people who are discouraged all the time. Thanks for any help you or anyone else who reads this posting can offer. Please either respond in this thread or send me a PM. #HeterotopicOssification
 
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Don't get discouraged just yet, okay? Let me see what I can find out for you. First thing I'm going to do is tag our forum's @Orthodoc. He's in Daytona Beach and he may be able to recommend someone fairly close to you that has experience with Heterotopic Ossification. Any ideas, Orthodoc?

Oh, and you may notice that I edited your last post slightly to remove your name and email address. It's never a good idea to put that kind of personal information out on the open internet.
 
Thanks Jamie, It's hard to see the women you love so much going through so much pain and to think she may have to wait another year and then have the revision surgery which would add another four to six months of recovery. Any help you can give will be most appreciated. You are right about putting my name and address on the Internet. I just wasn't thinking right yesterday.
 
Hi @CalciumHip I have never heard of this happening and I don't have any good advise but I wanted to just to say that your wife is a lucky lady for you to be doing all you can to help her.(I'm sure she knows this already):wink:
I am so glad you found this forum and are touching base with people who can give you info and hopefully get her to another doctor who can help her. Good luck ! :)
 
Thanks for your kind remarks. We have been married 48 years as of July 2 and she is the love of my life. 19 years ago I had a really bad motorcycle accident and she stayed in my hospital room, 24 hours a day for 3 1/2 weeks. As I had two broken wrists, broken left should, broken jaw bone at the eye socket she had to do everything for me (and I do mean everything with the two broken wrists). This is just my time to give back to her and I want to do everything I can to make her well again.
 
I already have a thread about my wife's calcium buildup in her total hip replacement area. I was advised that this very rare (about 1-2% of people who have a HRP develop this condition) is called Heterotopic Ossification. #HeterotopicOssification

If anyone who reads this thread can advise me of a doctor who handles this condition on a more regular basis I would be most grateful. I have taken my wife to two Orthopedic Surgeons and both advise that my wife has this condition which shows up on X-rays but one thinks that the body may reabsorb the calcium and the other told up that there is no way her body could absorb this much calcium. I am also worried that the calcium could continue to grow to the point it could freeze my wife's hip completely.

Almost without a doubt she will need a revision surgery to clean out the extra calcium growth and then special treatment after the revision surgery to keep it from coming back. I need a special doctor who handles this condition on a regular basis. We live near Atlanta but at this point I would be willing to take her anywhere in the USA.
 
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your post, @CalciumHip, from the new thread you started to your original thread. We like to keep our members' recovery posts all in a single thread. That way it's easy for us to go back and read your history before responding to a question or concern. In addition, the thread becomes a journal of your recovery for those who come along later and want to read about you. So, please post in this thread from now on when you want to give an update or ask a question. If you have questions or concerns that need an immediate answer, please tag an admin, a mod, or other members or all three.

If you decide you'd like a different thread title at any point, you can change it by tagging one of us and just posting what you want here; and we'll get it changed for you. THANKS!


If you are having a problem locating your thread, here is a link with how to do it: How can I find my threads and posts?
 
I understand. I was going to start a new thread that names the calcium buildup by the medical term, Heterotopic Ossification. I'm hoping someone will know of a doctor or doctors that do a lot of surgery to remove this buildup. So far what I have read online is not encouraging and I have a feeling that somewhere there is someone who can help. Thanks for this great website.
 
Do you want your thread title changed to "Heterotopic Ossification specialist?" Or something similar. Post what you would prefer, a Moderator will change it for you.
 
Google Heterotopic Ossification specialists. I found interesting information, including leads on specialists. #HeterotopicOssification
 
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I did change the title of this thread for you so it would reflect the medical name of your wife's diagnosis. I've also used the hashtag in some of the posts to create a "trending" topic that may be seen by others with the problem. You can add to the trending topic by putting this in each of the posts you feel are relevant to this subject:

#HeterotopicOssification
 
I contacted the surgeon I know in Daytona Beach for a recommendation for someone you might meet with and here is his reponse:

So nice to hear from you. My recommendation in that area would be Charles DeCook. http://www.arthritisandtotaljoint.com/charles-decook-md

He helped train some of my partners on the anterior approach about 5 years ago. He has a very good reputation. He also fairly close to where your user lives. I do not know his experience with HO resection.

Even though it is not clear whether or not he works with #Heterotopicossification patients, it might be worthwhile to at least call the office and chat with them (and possibly make an appointment for a consultation). My only other suggestions would be to contact a major hospital such as HHS in New York, Mass General in Boston, or one of the Mayo Clinics and talk with them about a specialist on their staff. Let me know how it goes and I'll try to help you whenever and however I can.
 

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