Several years after hip replacement

[marie]

Hi
My mum, who will be 78 in September had a hip replacement approx. 6/7 years ago. Just after surgery she caught an infection and had to stay in hospital until it cleared.

Her hip replacement has always caused her pain and discomfort and after all this time she still walks with a stick. On several occasions her hip has popped out of the joint, she has had regular check-ups at the hospital and they say there is nothing wrong with the hip and just prescibe pain killers. My mum is a very independent lady and still does a little cleaning job in the mornings - just yesterday she was at work and her hip popped out once again, only this time, it hasn't gone back the way it should and she is experiencing a lot of pain.

Can anyone shed any light on this, one doctor I took her to see said it maybe that the hip hasn't been weighted down enough. Does anyone know whether there is an option to have this corrected.

Marie

 

[Sonia S.]

Hello Marie, i am no doctor but obviously something is not wright! Have you taken her to see another surgeon just for a second opinion? After reading many articles about hip replacement of how it is done with the good and bad, it is usualy a successful operation with good recovery. First, i don't like the sound of the infection she had straight after the hip replacement. It might have left some damage... Secondly, when the hip pops out it is usualy put back in, BUT,when it happens again and again, i'm sorry to say but the book say that the surgery need to be redone (revision). Then again, i am not a doctor nor surgeon so please go for another check up somewhere else. I hope that you find a reason to all her pain and discomfort because she deserve the BEST. Best wishes, Sonia ;)

 

[Mikelew]

Hello,
As a THR on both sides, I have some stories that may help with your mother. The left was done about 6 years ago due to AVN (avascular necrosis) from predisone usage (whole other story) and is a ceramic ball with plastic socket and is supposed to last 25 years. The right side was done last April and I was continually experiencing groin pain in that side unlike the left which was never a problem (went back to work after 5 weeks and have never looked back). Well, as for the right, I had to have it redone (called a revision) this March and it has dislocated 3 times since and am due for a encased hip replacement on 14 August. Bone loss is the main concern with any revision and the placement of the socket relative to angle of pressure and so forth can cause problems like your mothers and mine. It is probably the most painful thing that I have experienced (even worse than the 3 surgeries so far - 1 left 2 right). Encased socket is the fix unfortunately.... best wishes.

 

[Sonia S.]

Hello Mikelew, Can you explain what is an encased hip replacement, i haven't heard this term before... Did the dislocation X3 happened after you did the revision in March or before? About bone loss at the time of revision, is it because when they remove the old hip some of the bone gets taken away? One of the surgeon i saw said to me that at the time of revision they'll only remove the ball and put a new one and thought that sounds good... But could it be that easy, that's another thing...! Then again it could be for my case (everyone is different). I still haven't found a person who has the same problem as me ("Protrusio Acetabuli")! I must be unique! :rolleyes:

 

[Mikelew]

Hello,

Encased means a "locked liner" which is a plate that is on the back-side of the ball that screws to the socket titanium casing and "encases" the ball so that dislocation is impossible. The only drawback is the wear is increased causing the life of the implant to be almost half due to the ball being worn on both the socket and liner sides.
Whenever they replace the ball, it is almost a given to replace the socket side. The last revision (11 months after the THR) I had was due to constant pain in the joint after a THR (had some movement - rocking - in the hip socket) and the socket and ball were replaced with larger ones and when the socket was removed, it had bone attached which required putty in its place before the new one was inserted and two screws added to further reduce any socket motion. The next revision is the 14th of August...
The new surgeon states that cadavaer bone would be used on this upcoming surgery, if needed, as I am not sure how much of the current hip will be replaced - ie. femoral stem, ball, socket and plastic liner with the addition of the lock liner... wish I knew but the surgeon swears he has all the bases covered.
The dislocations have happened since the revision and not before. My left THR has been great and never once has had any issues. The right however, has been a nightmare to say the least. This will be surgery #4 (THR, 2 revisions and a core decompression to try to prevent the THR in the first place) on the right side... BW, Mike
P.S. keep asking questions if any of this is confusing and I will try to clear them up

 

[Sonia S.]

Thanks for your reply. I really need to read your text a couple of time because there is a lot of informations. Give me time and i'll let you know, Thanks again.
Sonia