Dr. Michael Jacobs

[resurf]

I would like to share my experience with everyone concerning my recent surgery under the skillful direction of Dr. Michael Jacobs at Good Samaritan Hospital in Baltimore, Md.
Before discussing the actual surgery, a little background on the decision making process might be helpful to those facing similar circumstances. In September 2007 I felt some moderate pain in my upper left inner thigh. My GP diagnosed a gracilis muscle strain but after two weeks of rest and NSAIDS no relief. Physical therapy for five weeks resulted in no relief and lower back pain complicated the diagnosis. MRI's of both back and hip showed L3-L4 spinal stenosis and some signals in the hip joint. The radiologist did not address the exact cause of pain in the thigh whose source could have been either spine or hip. After a direct lidocaine-cortisone injection under fluoroscopy into the hip joint, all pain subsided for two weeks. Upon resumption of the pain, consultation with 3 orthopedists and Xray evaluation the left hip was diagnosed definitively as the source of my thigh pain. It was a relief to finally have a diagnosis, especially one not involving my spine. Now whom to select to deal with it.

Two of the orthopedists I consulted with recommended THR (neither of which includes hip resurfacing in their surgical repertoire) and the third stated that I was a candidate for resurfacing. All were local to me and I live 7 hours from Baltimore. I wasn't comfortable with the experience level of the local surgeon so I looked in Baltimore as I have family there to recover and there are several excellent medical institutions there to choose from. After viewing Dr. Jacobs' website and a20minute phone conversation with him' I elected to have him perform the left BHR surgery. This affable, highly experienced surgeon with a down to Earth demeanor was a pleasure to deal with. He has a great staff at his office who handled all the insurance matters smoothly, an exceptionally informative surgical physicians assistant, and avery caring hospital staff at his disposal. The surgery was about 2 hours in length and was "textbook". Day 2 I was walking gingerly on crutches with no pain at all in recumbent position. Day 3 pain subsided on walking to level 3. Day 4 pain to level two walking 100 feet. Some mild swelling knee to hip. Very little bruising. Day 5 today July12, 2009pain level 1-2 walking with crutches and ecstatic with my recovery. Still tightness sensation but that shoud subside in two to four weeks. I can't help but feel that my recovery is a result of fine surgical technique and intimate knowledge of hip anatomy. I hope this helps others on this site to carefully select one of the many skilled surgeons with experience with HR procedures.

[mpschrader]

What ever happened with your back pain?  My situation is similar.  Dr. Jacobs is doing my surgery in October and I am hoping my back pain subsides after "the root of the problem" is addressed.  How was your stay at Good sam?

[Pat Walter]

Hi

I wanted to tell the Dr. Jacobs patients that I did a video interveiw with him in Baltimore at the 3rd Annual Hip Resurfacing Course Sept. 5, 2009.  It is posted under the doctor videos here

http://www.surfacehippy.info/shvideos/videosdoctor.php

Pat

[kwarendorf]

mpschrader - you don't mention a specific diagnosis for your back woes. Is it spinal stenosis? If so I doubt hip resurfacing will be of any benefit. A laminectomy, on the other hand, might be :) If your back problems are more general soreness your hip might be the root cause. As we change our posture/gait to accommodate our aching hips we put stress on other parts of our bodies. In my case I thought I had done permanent damage to my knee (I had already had my laminectomy :)) Once I had my hip fixd the knee pain went a way!

Kyle

[resurf]

Hello and thanks for the replies. My back pain is very likely associated with being in the dental profession but the improvement in my hip after the surgery has helped my gait and therefore my lower back. I was diagnosed with spinal stenosis (as most men over 50 will demonstrate some form of this lesion) but there are also muscular issues involved. I am at the nine week mark (post surgery) and am walking very well with a slight and decreasing limp every week. My case was more difficult than the norm due to bone chips that migrated into the adjacent muscle that Dr. Jacobs removed (thankfully). I have absolutely zero pain on adduction and abduction, severe pain which I had for the last 2.5 years. I am waiting for the OK to get back to serious physical exercise and in fact I am seeing Dr. Jacobs on 9/17/2009 for my first followup.
For those of you scheduled for surgery with Dr. Jacobs, have no doubt, you've got the right surgeon. All told my hip feels great and the result has exceeded my expectation. For those of you looking for a surgeon, go meet with him--you'll be pleasantly surprised. Good Sam is superb--caring, efficient, and sometimes humorous. You're treated like family and I highly recommend Good Sam. The most important tips:follow the therapists regimens and get a high quality reclining chair to sleep in for your recovery period. Please feel free to contact me with any further questions--I know because I had those same concerns prior to the surgery.

[mpschrader]

thanks!  I'm starting to get excited.  I'm only 38 so I feel like I have a lot of golf/tennis/etc left in me.  I'll look into the spinal stenosis if my pain still exists after surgery.
Thanks again
Mark (from Annapolis)

[resurf]

Thought I'd give an update at the 10 week post op stage. Just saw Dr. Jacobs and we went over the post op film. The components appear to be placed ideally and my clinical result seems to verify this.I have zero pain in the pelvis and my knee which has been occasionally sore for 3-4 weeks seems to be resolving very well. There were no remaining bone chips in the muscle adjacent to the hip joint as verified by the post op film compared to the pre-op film. It feels as if nothing has been done to the hip, just amazing. 99% limp free!

Just want to touch base on one other issue. I've seen some discussion about incision length and post op scar concern. I have a 7" incision and proud of it. It was the only way the surgeon could effectively visualize and treat the pathology. If they can't see it, they can't treat it so tell your surgeon you're comfortable with "whatever it takes" to properly visualize the site to remove any pathology and properly align the prosthesis. I just don't see how this operation can be adequately performed with a minimally invasive incision, but it seems to be possible. Once your pain free, the incision and resulting scar length fades in significance. Best of luck to all.

[resurf]

One year update; the hip is doing great, very smooth motion, no pain on walking or running. Slight muscle weakness , not yet as strong as other side but seems to be improving weekly. Very pleased with this result.