Hi all, I saw Mr Treacy again last week and had a good long talk with him about my options.
He'd previously told me that due to my slipped femoral epiphysis, I have an unusual hip anatomy and could only rate me as 30/70 to be able to be resurfaced, the alternative to be large ball ceramic THR.
I had some new X-rays done and he said that if a resurfacing is possible-he won't know till he gets in there- there's no chance of him doing it with the usual guiding equipment that's normally used, and it would have to be done freehand.
I've not heard of this and wonder if anyone here knows more?
Anyone got an 'freehand' resurfacing?
Hay Mike,
I think by that he means he will have to set the components in a custom set of angles and so would do that using land marks and his experience as opposed to the equipment that gives him the angles of the components. If any other surgeon were suggesting this i would run like mad but he has done many many 1000's of these and has done more than anyone else so personally i would trust in him as you will not get a better surgeon than him.
Danny
Hi Danny,
After hearing about some of his previous surgery-Floyd landis for one- the guy is a genius of his profession.
His confidence is so encouraging and I'm quite happy to put myself entirely in his hands as to what can be done.
He will do everything he can to resurface my hip but has told me it straight from the start-like he says, better to be dissappointed now than when you wake up in hospital.
I know he dislikes doing THR's he will always try his upmost to do a BHR and after been told of some of the cases he's done he's a genius and your in the best hands mate. I'm coming back to York in July if you fancy meeting up?
I'd totally trust Treacy. He's been around for awhile. I'm speculating, but I think some of the extremely experienced surgeons may have done a few "freehand" surgeries without guiding equipment. If you think about doing the same procedure over and over again, more than 1000 times, you probably have a pretty good idea of the angles you need and what landmarks to be measuring up against. Again, speculation. I'm basing this on my own experience with freehand cutting of compound angles of steel tubing. It just seems like after 1000 procedures this stuff should be pretty straight forward.