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Hip infection and pain.

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davhwd

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After suffering a broken hip (I fell and shattered the ball of my left femur into several pieces) I had to have a THR on my left hip. The replacement went well and I was able to go home after 4 days. After a little over a week my wound began to have more drainage and I had a sudden onset of pain and developed a fever. I had to go back to the hospital for more surgery which consisted of 4 separate surgeries for debridement and lavage over a 1 week period. Cultures taken showed it was a staph infection but not MRSA. I recieved a PIC line and was put on Nafcillin for 8 weeks after which the PIC line was removed and I have been put on oral antibiotics (dicloxacillin) which I am still on after 1 month. I had been progressing pretty well in PT until about 10 days ago. After the therapy session my hip was sore (as usual) but got worse the next day. I went to see my doctor (the one that did the surgery) as soon as I could which was 3 days later. The pain had subsided some by that time but was more than it was. I have no fever, redness or drainage and the doctor thought it was probably due to PT. After 10 days it has not improved a whole lot even though I haven't been back to PT yet. I am afraid of another infection which would necessitate at least 2 more surgeries to remove and replace the prosthesis. Has anyone else had a similar problem and is this type of relapse normal? My prosthesis is all metal and I am 54.
 
Hey Dav im so sorry wow you have been thru alot Im sure hips will post to help im a knee but i wish you the best post anytime we are all here for you.....I really hope its not but if it is you will get thru it...Its tough i know ..im so sorry .......hang in there.........please keep us updated.............)
 
I am so sorry to hear of all your trouble with infections. I don't know what the answer is. I was lucky enough to have a mostly event free hip replacment. Good luck to you. Our wonderful Jo will be on soon enough to help you
judy
 
Davhwd, welcome to BoneSmart. So glad you joined the forum, but I'm sorry to hear you are having these problems. Jo will be along soon to provide her expert medical opinion. My feeling is that you probably need to get checked out once more. I would think without PT, you should have a lessening of pain after 10 days.

Let's see what Josephine says, though. Please continue to let us know how you're getting along. We'll always be here to provide support if you need us!
 
not in my hip i did not, but i did have osteomylitis, which is an infection in the bone. BUT it was from my wrist surgeries and i had been dealing with temps for 8 months. Thought i was crazy till a new doc went to do surgery and found my ulna bone was pouring puss out. I was so afraid it was gonna go into my hip, but it didnt. And i also had a pic line for 6 weeks. had to administer antibiotics to my self, really weird. But so far no infection in the hip. whew. my os said that if i did get one in my hip, it would be painful and i would have to have my prothesis removed till the infection was gone. some really scary stuff. he said it could be a long time without a hip.
 
The pain has subsided but it still hasn't gotten back to where it was before 10 days ago. The pain has changed also. At first the pains were sharp pains when I would move or try to put weight on my hip. Now it is more like a tingling or itching sensation. In the mornings it feels better than later when I have been up and around. I saw my infection specialist the day after seeing my OS and she didn't seem to be too concerned about reinfection either since there is no fever, drainage, redness or swelling. Neither doctor deemed it necessary to perform any tests at this time. I guess I will try to schedule a PT session later this week and see how it goes. I thank you for all your replies.
 
davhwd
I will surley be praying that your infection days are over for good. You have been through enough. Keep us updated, please
judy
 
Davhwd, the sensations you describe (tingling and itching) are a normal part of the healing process. If it has evolved from pain to this, I think you have nothing to worry about. I think your plan to see a PT is a good one. Let us know how that goes.

Sorry to change my opinion from my last post, but the fact that your pain has lessened makes a difference.
 
Yes, that does look like a good sign. Thing about these infections is that it is a very long haul getting over it. All that surgery and debridement and such - you're looking at months of recovery rather than weeks. And itching and tingling is also a good sign! A sign of healing!
 
I couldn't schedule a PT session until Monday of next week so I will have a little more time to recuperate. My OS indicated that my recovery would take longer because of the cutting and scraping during the surgeries as you said, Jo. He seems to be a very good orthopedic surgeon and has been very concerned about my condition. He was pessimistic about my chances of not getting reinfected at first but after a few weeks with no problems he became more optimistic. I'm still paranoid about my hip getting reinfected. I was just concerned when my pain changed in such a short time. Usually the changes for the better are slow to come about but setbacks come about more quickly, I guess. Thank you all for your reassurances.
 
I survived therapy OK with only a little soreness afterwards so my hip is improving. It is still not back to the point where it was before my setback. The therapist had to cut back on some of the weight bearing exercises I was doing on the operated leg. I was walking with a cane most of the time and now I am back on the walker. Hopefully this will improve with therapy.
 
You have been through so much. I'm sure you will improve in time, just may take longer. Keep up the good work
juyd:D
 
Having reread this I really think you should have another blood test to reassure you that all is well. It's not an expensive test and is simple to do. You should request such a test. Then you'd feel a lot better.
 
I went to see my OS today. He took X-rays of my hip to check for any looseness of my prosthesis but every thing looked tight. He said that it was a good fit when he put it in and the X-rays show good bone growth into the porous surfaces of the prosthesis. Earlier X-rays taken about 1 month after my last surgery showed some heterotropic ossification and he had me on a prescription for Indocin for a while. The latest X-rays show more HO (even I could see the cloudiness in the muscle tissue). I am going to recieve some radiation treatments to try and stop the formation of any more unwanted bone tissue. My OS thinks this may be part of the reason I have continued pain after therapy. The radiation won't reverse the existing ossification but he thinks with time the muscle pain should improve. He doesn't want to resort to surgery to remove the ossification if possible. He said my surgery was the hardest he had done due to the size of my gluteus muscles (13" from the outside to the hip joint). It took him an extra hour to retract the muscle to get to the hip joint. Any additional surgeries would increase the risk of more complications. He's going to have the therapists back off on the intensity of my therapy to allow more time for healing.
 
I'm 8 months out now and they have found infection in my joint so I am intersted in your experience. I know it is different since yours was found a lot more quickly. So, I have a couple questions for you if you would be willing to share. You could PM me if your interested and I would love to talk to you so that I had some idea of what to expect. Thank you.
 
Davhwd, thanks for the update. I'm glad to hear your surgeon thinks your hip joint is doing fine with no loosening. I hope the radiation helps with the ossification. Please let us know how things go for you.....we care about you!
 
Hey David im sorry about all the set backs you have had i hop is goes forward from here.........i wish you the best and just letting you know we all have your back.............) even us knees
 
I really hope the radiation works for you. It usually does.
 
Thanks again for all your support. My consultation with the doctor who does the radiation therapy is in a couple of weeks. That's the soonest it could be scheduled. I'm just going to take it easy until then and try not to worry any more. I'm not so worried about infection now since I have gone this long with no loosening of the prosthesis.
 
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