SURGERY W/ SCIATIC PULSY

[ROADQUEEN]

HI...I AM 4 WEEKS POST OP AND WHEN I AWOKE FROM MY SURGERY I HAD NO FEELING IN MY RIGHT CALF DOWN TO MY FOOT. ORIGINALLY THEY THOUGHT I HAD FOOT DROP BUT AS IT TURNS OUT IT IS SCIATIC PULSY. A RARE OCCURENCE WITH HIP RESURFACING. THE DOCTOR WENT BACK IN 2 DAYS LATER TO BE SURE NO NERVES WERE TWISTED OR DAMAGED AND THEY WERE NOT. HAS ANYONE OUT THERE DEVELOPED THIS. EVERYTHING (PAIN AND SUCH) IS WHAT I HAD EXPECTED BUT THIS PERIPHORAL NEUROPATHY IS EXTREMELY PAINFUL AND I HAVE NOT HAD A GOOD NIGHTS SLEEP IN 4 WEEKS. ANY SUGGESTIONS?

[Pat Walter]

Hi
Welcome to Hip Talk.

What Doctor did you use?  What surgical approach was used?  Anterior or posterior?

There is often more possiblity of nerve damage from the anterior approach.

I don't think anyone on this board has had this type of problem, but people on the large Yahoo Surface Hippy Board have had similar problems.  http://groups.yahoo.com/group/surfacehippy/


I would suggest asking on the Yahoo board.  It is a very active group of over 6000 members.  You will get over 100 emails a day. If you don't want to clutter your email box, then you can just read the messages up on Yahoo or set up a special folder on your own computer so it doesn't clog your normal email.

I know there have been people with similar problems - don't know if they called it the same name - but had nerve damage.  Some have gotten over it and others never have.  It just depends on what is wrong.

I am sorry I am not medically trained and can't tell you any thing other than to ask on the other board and push your own doctor for more information.  If you want to get input from the really experienced surgeons like Dr. De Smet with over 3000 hip resurfacings and Dr. Bose with over 1000, they will talk to you via email for free.  They do all the consultations that way.  It might be good to talk with an expert.  They help solve a lot of difficult problems for people. 

If you doctor is one of the newer doctors at hip resurfacing, he/she probably doesn't have the great amount of experinece that the top doctors have.  They have seen it all and Dr. De Smet specializes in fixing other doctors botched surgeries.

Their emails are listed on my doctors list here  http://www.surfacehippy.info/listofdoctors.php   Dr. De Smet is in Belgium and Dr. Bose in India. 

I would definitely get more input about my problem if it were me.  You need the input from experienced doctors.

Please keep in touch and let us know if we can help with any other information.

I hope you can get the problem solved soon.

Pat

[Pat Walter]

Hi
I was working on my other website and found an article I had posted about Nerve Palsy  http://www.hipsforyou.com/nervepalsy.php

I thought it interesting.  Dr. Schmalzried and Dr. Amstutz also do hip resurfacing.

they again stated

In our research, femoral nerve injuries tend to be more frequent when we use an anterolateral approach to THR,"

It seems more nerve problems can occur in the anterior approach to THR or Hip Resurfacing. Very few hip resurfacing surgeons are using the anterior approach - a few are.

Pat

[ROADQUEEN]

THANK YOU FOR YOUR HASTY REPLY. MY DOCTOR IS QUITE EXPERIENCED AND I BELEIVE BY THE LOOK ON HIS FACE EXTREMELY SICK OVER THE INJURY. I AM NOT SURE OF THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ANTERIOR AND POSTERIOR. HE DID MY HIP FROM THE SIDE OF MY THIGH.
THIS IS VERY DEPRESSING AND I AM HOPING ALL MY FEELING COMES BACK SOONER THAN LATER.
I AM AN AVID MOTORCYCLIST AND MY RIGHT FOOT CONTROLS MY REAR BRAKING AND I WILL FIND IT DIFFICULT TO HOLD AN 800 LB MOTORCYCLE UP WITH NO FEELING OR ANY MOVEMENT IN MY ANKLE AND FO ;)OT.
I APPRECIATE YOUR WEBSITE AND ALL THE INFORMATION I HAVE GATHERED AND ESPECIALLY KNOWING I AM NOT ALONE W/ MOST CIRCUMSTANCES. THANKS ....TRICIA

[Pat Walter]

Hi Tricia

I hope everything works out for you and soon.

We are always here if you want to talk.  It is nice to know other people have had the same operation.  Fortunately, most don't have special problems like you do.  No one wants to have that exprience.

We are good listeners and will try to help if we can.

Pat