Arthroscopy

evant · June 23, 2014, 03:24:43 PM

Yours is the first successful arthroscopy I've heard of.

Mine certainly didn't work (prior to my BHR of course) but I learnt rapidly not to trust the smug, uncaring, local orthopaedic surgeon.

It's good to read you're doing well.

HippyDogwood · June 24, 2014, 09:09:25 AM

Quote from: evant on June 23, 2014, 03:24:43 PM
Yours is the first successful arthroscopy I've heard of.

Mine certainly didn't work (prior to my BHR of course) but I learnt rapidly not to trust the smug, uncaring, local orthopaedic surgeon.

It's good to read you're doing well.

Evant

It is an interesting point. I have looked into this in detail and my conclusion is that it is firstly down to the quality of surgeon and secondly what they do. There seems to be a lot of evidence that suggests arthroscopy has limited benefit where OA is established if all you do is stitch up tears / debride. Where things seem to be heading is surgeons using a combination of microfracture and stem cells to then compensate for the lost cartilage.

General consensus is still that this is not as strong as the original cartilage, but can (in suitable patients) extend the natural hip life from anything between 3 and 10 years.

So I guess it's where you fix the bar for success. If you end up with HR / THR within 12 months of Artho then that's definitely a failure. If you get 3+ years with good improvement over that period then that's well worth looking at. But artho where OA is present without microfracturing or stem cells does seem to be limited.

What was your situation out of interest?

Rgds
David

evant · June 25, 2014, 02:30:00 PM

David

Thanks for your response.

I agree the quality of the surgeon and what they actually do is vital. If they can also do the arthroscopy rapidly once the symptoms have been confirmed then all the better.

My surgeon scored a dismal failure in all of the above.

My arthroscopy was officially confirmed unsuccessful at 6 months post-op.

It could have been worse - he wasn't in the least concerned that the arthroscopy had failed rapidly, and then wanted to practice his incompetence further by trying his hand at resurfacing my hip - he'd done @20 in 4 years. I declined his offer and thanks to Dannywayoflife and MikeD
found the incredible Mr Treacy instead.

If an experienced surgeon skilled in arthroscopy is able to give an extra 3 - 10 years life to an ailing hip that sounds promising.

I'm sure Jason will be looking for the higher end of that life span if not more. Being referred by Mr McMinn to Mr Villar certainly gives him the very best chance.