Screaming bursitis

[Flluffycat]

Last August, my left hip was replaced and ever since I've had bursitis so bad (my doctor said he's never had a patient before with such bad bursitis for so long) that my surgeon is going to remove my bursa next month. Has anyone heard of this or experienced it?

On the other hand, my right hip was replaced in August and I haven't had a moment's trouble with it because my surgeon prophylactically removed its bursa. Because I didn't have nearly the pain I had with my left hip, I've done much better and didn't even need out-patient physical therapy because I could do my at-home PT due to not being in so much pain.

If it makes any difference, and I don't think it does, I had metal-on-metal (I believe titanium and cobalt) replacements because of my age (57) and activity level. These take longer to heal but are supposed to last a lot longer.

 

[Josephine]

To explain about bursas - they are a natural little sac made by an extrusion of the joint lining (synovial membrane) in any joint. The little folds need to be there to allow for movement much like you need pleats in a blouse so it doesn't prevent you moving freely. Now the fluid in the joint flows freely in and out of these folds and sacs and as long as they open into the joint, all is well. But should the sac or fold become sealed off from the joint, the fluid gets trapped in it. The synovial membrane's principle function is to produce synovial fluid, that straw coloured viscous, fatty fluid you find in joints that lubricates them and keeps them healthy. One of the byproducts of arthritis is that the synovial membrane gets hyperactive and produces too much of this fluid.

Now the sac that becomes sealed off is still lined with synovial membrane and is still producing the fluid so the sac begins to fill up like a balloon being filled with water. Mostly the pressure opens up the connection to the joint so it goes down again or the fluid just gets absorbed but occasionally neither of these things happens and the bursa just gets bigger and more painful. That's not so bad - it may or may not be a problem but IF the bursa becomes inflammed and/or infected, then you have a problem. Usually they just get inflammed and need to be dealt with by surgery.

Sometimes there's a visible bursa on a hip and sometimes there's not. They're not always obvious, more of a potential sac than a visible one, you see. But it is unusual to get such a protracted and painful episode. I would say that it was rotten bad luck for you!

There is just a very slight chance that the extra synovium may have been caused by a reaction to the metals in your prosthesis but it is very rare and Titanium is one of the most inert metals known to man at this present time.

In any case, the removal of it will be a relatively simple procedure and you should be out of hospital in a day and back to normal in no time. I'm sure you'll be so happy to get rid, you'll be bouncing back!

Do let us know how you get on.

 

[Flluffycat]

Thank you very much for the information.

That wasn't the only after-effect I had from my surgery: as a result of being rolled on my side, I developed a problem in my right ulnar nerve and had to have surgery last January to fix that too. I wanted to delay it but my doctor told me if I didn't get it fixed right away, I'd never get the feeling back in my ring and little fingers. Right now I have 95% of the feeling back in my ring finger and about 75% back in my little finger.

It's always something.

 

[Josephine]

Oh yikes! You have had bad luck. My heart goes out to you.