daughter with 2 failed hip arthroscopy

[jenny]

My 15 yo daughter has had 2 failed left hip arthroscopies by an experienced surgeon in this area. She of course has severe groin pain and limited and getting worse ROM. she is doing PT, but even they are hesitant to have her push through the pain. Surgeon want us to go to see Dr. Phillipon in COlorado to investigate cartilage grafting. We are hesitant due to distance, expiramental and money. We have an appointment for Clevland Clinic in December. I am wondering if cartilage that is very friable possibly becoming worse as time goes by is a reason for hip resurfacing. What else does one do with a 15 year old with constant pain and worse at any given time with just walking, turning in bed, sitting or crossing legs. She is unable to cheer and do any sport. Oh, we do not know the cause of her torn and detiorating cartilage. Thanks for any input!! We are in Ohio.

[kb134]

Jenny,
Thank you for your trust in sharing your circumstances.
Interestingly enough, I've had Arthroscopic Surgery performed on both of my hips. I may be 30 y/o to date, but initial hip pain began back when I was 23, and began shortly after a crush injury, where I, as a cyclist, was hit, dragged and crushed underneath a semi truck low bed trailer. That was the end of 2001.
I had onset back pain immediately following the accident, then onst hip pain in my right hip, with "clicking" and "popping" sensations.
In 2005, an MRI exam revealed that I had a Labral Tear.
In 2006, I had my first Athroscopic surgery to deal with that tear, and in speaking with my surgeon, he stated that I had Cam-Type Femoracetabular Impingement - having abnormally shaped femur-heads.
What I was to discover was the fact that I had seen doctors and specialists who had all seen my hip/pelis X-Rays, and nobody noticed it.
I was to find out from my family doctor, who has been practicing for years, that he had never heard of such a term or condition. In my case, I was asymptomatic prior to the accident, and began to show signs of "something" after.
Now, ...

[kb134]

Has it been established why she is experiencing pain?
and here's a link - http://www.hipfai.com/ - it might be relevant.
Is her cartilage deteriorating and so experiencing arthritis? Has she seen a Rheumatologist?
I have had one resurfacing, to date ...
While I was seeing the Surgeon who performed the hip arthroscopy, I met a 19 y/o young woman who had also had surgery due to a labral tear ...
I'm not saying that that is what your daughter has, but if you can learn anything from my story - and experienced surgeon/doctor is golden due to knowledge and/or experience.
I look forward to your response.
Much Blessing.

[Pat Walter]

Hi

I am sorry to hear about your daughter's bad hips.  I live in Marietta OH and know that Dr. Brooks at the Cleveland Clinic is becoming one of the more expeirnced hip resurfacing surgeons in the mid-west.  I interviewed him last month and you can listen to it here  http://www.surfacehippy.info/doctorinterviews/brooksinterview.php

I have about 5 or 6 stories of children in their early teens that needed hip resurfaicng. One is Kaibree who was 14 and had both hips done.  I will look up her Mom's email address if you would like to talk to her.  Kaibree is back to normal and enjoying high school now.  http://www.surfacehippy.info/kaibree2006.php

Your daughter is very young to keep going thru experimental surgeries if you don't think they are going to work well.  I am not a doctor and can't give medical advice, but I know others will be happy to give their opinion too.  Hip resurfacing is the best option for hip replacement at such an early age since she will keep her complete femur bone.  Then if she ever needed another revision, the mid head type devices might be more popular where she could still keep part of her femur bone before a full THR taking a large piece of her femur bone would be required.  It gives her 3 steps to go thru since she is so young.

I know Dr. Brooks will talk with you and explain it all very well.  He is a very nice person besides being a very expeirnced hip resurfacing surgeon.  There are others in the US and abroad that have done thousands and if you want to look further, you can see their names on my doctors list  http://www.surfacehippy.info/listofdoctors.php

PLease keep in touch and let me know if I can help further. 

Pat

[jenny]

Daughter had been experiencing severe deep groin pain for 9 monthes prior to first hip arthroscopy (april)-and found small labral tear- fixed. After 4 weeks of normal - hip pain returned worse than before. surgeon went back in on August and found new tear and deteriorating cartilage says bone looks fine. Her pain has never improved after 2nd surgery and ROM is much worse. Surgeon who pioneered the arthscopy himsef said it is very unsusual and does not know what has happened to cartilage. We have not been to rheumatoidologist and am hoping the Cleveland CLinic will help us diagnose and treat. I am very interestd to communicate with kaibrees mother and so might my daughter with kaibree. The cleveland clinic does not have us seeing Dr. Brooks, rather a Dr. Krebs- his bio does not mention hip resurfacing. I see Dr. Brooks is very experienced. Do you know anything about Dr. Michael Swank in CIncinnati?  I honestly do not know if hip resurfacing is what we are facing, but I can't see her just "living it with it for  awhile" like a surgeon suggested!! Thanks to all!!

[Pat Walter]

Hi

I don't know of the other surgeons you are talking about.  My suggestion would be to contact the very best hip resurfacing surgeons in the US and get their opinions.  Some will look at your daughter's x-rays and give you a free consultation via phone or email.  Dr. Gross of SC has done over 1800 resurfacings and is one of the best in the US.  Dr. Mont of MD has done over 1600 and is another of the best.  Dr. Su of NY has done over 800 and is another of the best resurfacing surgeons.

You don't want to take any chances with less expeirenced hip resurfacing surgeons to give you input.  They simply don't have the experince that the top surgeons do.  If you send Dr. De Smet of Belgium, my surgeon, an email with a copy of her x-rays attached in a digital format as .jpg - he too will give you a free consultation.  Normally families with young children with problems will always talk to the top surgeons.  They are the only ones that can and will approach diffiuclt problems - usually with great success.  They are very honest and will tell you exactly what can and can't be done in their opinions.  They will not play games or guess as some less expeirnced surgeons do.

I would want to get as much input as possible from all types of treatments before making a decision.  You daughter is so young and has many years ahead of her. It will take the top surgeons in the world to correct her problems.

Surgeons like De Smet of Belgium and McMinn of UK have done many thousands of resurfacings and diffiuclt cases and are use to trying to find solutions.  They have seen it all over the years.  De Smet has done way over 3000 resurfacings and often does revisions of other surgeons mistakes.  That is one reason I went to Belgium - to get a really experineced surgeon to do my hip since I was an older woman.

Please let me know what other information you might need.

Pat