Going in for Hip-resurfacing waking up with Hip-Replacement?

maxx6789 · March 02, 2012, 11:58:39 AM

i think all surgeons will say "there is a chance" but (as others have mentioned, with a good surgeon/patient selection the chance is very small). cysts are an issue. for me, one suregoon would not do resurfacing on me because the xray showed a cycst (he doesn't do many hip resurfacings). dr su said my cycts were not big enough to be a concern. my actual suregon (dr craig della valle) ... noted my cysts on the xray, performed a CT scan, and concluded my cysts were small and "in a good spot" so hip resurfacing was okay (i can't remember where exactly they should be as i was just so happy that he said hip resurfacing was for me, i really didn't listen to the explanation).

jjmclain · March 02, 2012, 12:00:55 PM

ZAP,

I was told pre-surgery that there was always the possibility that it could become a THR once my surgeon went in there. When I asked him how many times this had happened to him, he said zero! It is a standard precaution. I had several cysts, including one large one, and still ended up with a BHR.

June

jakemn · March 02, 2012, 03:43:38 PM

About the "being happy to hear BHR was a go" factor... I hear you there Maxx! I had some bone cyst concerns indicated on x-ray, and Dr. Rogerson had ordered a CT scan, which I had sent over a couple of days before. It was a Friday afternoon after work, and I happened to be in a deer-hunting tree stand for about an hour, and there wasn't much action, so I decided to check my cel phone messages. Dr. Rogerson had left a message for me in the time it took me to walk into my hunting stand while my phone was shut off. He informed me that the CT scan indicated NO problem after all, and that I was fully qualified for resurfacing. I almost fell out of my tree-stand with happiness! LOL!

Jake in MN

Tin Soldier · March 02, 2012, 05:07:10 PM

This seems to be a pretty common concern. I agree with everyone's posts. Pritchett responded to me like Su did to Woody. My assumption is that there is a legal need for the hospital/surgeon to allow them to put in a THR while there, thus the constant affirmation from the staff that "you might have a THR", when really the doc will probably know just from the x-ray, what the plan is and how confident they are to achieve the plan. Pritchett said he's never had to change plans midstream. I think there a probabaly few cases, like Luanna pointed out, where the doc will and should be very upfront about the likelihood of having to change plans midstream.

Zap - You should be meeting with the surgeon in the pre-op room or waiting room before surgery. I'm assuming they only mentioned the THR because they have to. Good luck on Monday, I'll be thinking about you.

ZAP · March 02, 2012, 05:14:21 PM

Well, the first home visit from the nurse just finished explaining to me it is a standard for doctors to do this. He said its a 1% chance of this happening. He said if for some reason the surgeon causes a fracture because the bone was to weak, they can't just leave you on the table. He said, he had one guy that it happened to, but the guy was a vegan and not as athletic as my self so his bones couldn't handle it.

obxpelican · March 02, 2012, 05:32:23 PM

Most experienced surgeons will tell you whether or not you will get an HR or total hip.

Dr. Gross did not say that to me, he said "you will wake up with a hip resurface.

It maybe one of those just in case things with that staff, or (don't take this badly) your surgeon has some problems when things are really tight when he opens up and dislocates.

Some surgeons end up doing an alarming number of switches to mini hips or total hips during the surgery, that bothers me, it's almost like a bait and switch. I had some good sized holes on the top of my femur and Dr. Gross did some bone grafts and I was good to go with full weight post op.

I would ask your surgeon how many he's had to switch to a total hip during surgery, if he is unsure of the number or the number is more than say 1% of his hip resurfaces then I would question him further about your case.

Chuck

Quote from: ZAP on March 01, 2012, 07:02:25 PM
Hi everyone,

I'm going into surgery on Monday morning, and something keeps coming up when I meet with nurses and therapist. They keep saying "I'm going in for either hip resurfacing OR hip replacement" Its bothering me, because it keeps coming up and the last nurse I spoke to said some times the doctor sees some when they open you up which they didn't see in the xrays or MRI s. Is this true? I really don't think I'm ready for a full hip replacement. I'm only 39. The hospital said I signed off for it.

Any ideas?

Aerial · March 02, 2012, 07:19:25 PM

Best of luck to you. Dr. Gross's staff said the same thing but if I remember correctly there was only 2 or 3 times they actually had to revert to a THR, very unlikely odds in the hands of a skilled surgeon!

obxpelican · March 02, 2012, 07:42:53 PM

As of Aug 2008 when I had mine done Dr. Gross told me he only ever had to revise one (at that time of course), I believe the head was just shot with too much damage.

Chuck

Quote from: Aerial on March 02, 2012, 07:19:25 PM
Best of luck to you. Dr. Gross's staff said the same thing but if I remember correctly there was only 2 or 3 times they actually had to revert to a THR, very unlikely odds in the hands of a skilled surgeon!