Hip Resurfacing not recommended anymore ?!?

[brianflanagan]

Hi guys,


I just had a call with a surgeon who told me that Hip resurfacing has been removed from the international market.
Apparently, this is not recommended anymore.
Particularly because most of the devices used where Metal on Metal and this was dangerous or they were failing.


Furthermore, he mentioned that after a hip replacement and/or hip resurfacing, I should not run or do martial arts anymore. Otherwise this would affect hugely the artificial hip and reduce a lot the lifetime of the artificial hip (he mentioned that 8-9 years).
He said that this would be ok to walk without pain or to swim.


I appreciate his franc opinion but now I am totally lost as I was ready for a hip resurfacing and to be back to some decent sport activities.


Could you give me your feedback please ?



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[Saf57]

With all due respect to this surgeon, please ignore him/her. I don't know where you are located, or your specific situation, but please contact an experienced hip resurfacing surgeon to receive appropriate advice on your prospects for hip resurfacing surgery.

[blinky]

This guy is not up to date or at least is not reading carefully the details of the reports that cross his desk.


I had the same thing happen to me. I bet a lot of us did.


Resurfacing has become a smaller, more specialized operation than it was in the early 2000s. It was heralded as the Holy Grail when it first came out. There have been problems and recalls. But the devices still on the market and the docs still doing the operation do a great job. There are articles in peer reviewed journals that support the continued success of resurfacing. (When I was interviewing surgeons, I talked to a really good local guy who did keep up to date and read journals and go to CE. He said that HR had fallen out of favor, but there was this one guy in North (sic) Carolina who had great results...)


As far as running post op, even the old timers I got opinions from let their patients run now. Yep, even the guy who still uses a small head THR device and told me I couldn't cross my legs post op told me I could run, but it might cause my THR to wear out sooner.


Get some more opinions. Read more here. I don't think there is a one size fits all solution. Figure out what will fit your lifestyle, age, physical condition, and (sorry to say) budget.

[Pat Walter]

Hip resurfacing is not as popular as it was - but it is still an excellent option for active younger patients.  Even women and small men can still have hip resurfacing, but with a small number of surgeons still doing them since the BHR is not recommended for women and small men.  This does not mean that there are a large number of women and small men that have had successful hip resurfacings and continue to have hip resurfacings.  If you just look at the ads on the website you can see many surgeons and even hospitals like the Cleveland Clinic still support hip resurfacing.  Cleveland Clinic is number 3 in the nation in orthopedics.

Here are articles by surgeons that still do hip resurfacing for both men and women.

http://surfacehippy.info/category/hip-resurfacing-for-women-and-small-men/

http://surfacehippy.info/category/hip-resurfacing-positive-results-and-information/

You can also read hundreds of personal current and older stories here

http://surfacehippy.info/category/hip-stories/

There have always been the majority of surgeons that did not and still don't support hip resurfacing.  That does not mean it is bad. It means that it is a much more difficult surgery than THRs.  So many have not opted to learn the skills or have not had good results.

It is still a great option if you are a good candidate.  Email some of the top surgeons here, attach you x-rays in a digital format and get a free consultation.  That way you can have 2 or 3 opinions from surgeons that do both hip resurfacing and THRs.

http://surfacehippy.info/surgeons-with-1000-hip-resurfacings/

Pat

[brianflanagan]

Thanks for your replies.


I'm not new to this forum to be honest and so this was a shock for me when he told me that he was not performing the Hip Replacement anymore ! and "that was removed from the international market"
Apparently he was doing it few years ago, so I want to believe that this is not a lack of competencies.


I am based in Dubai.
I'm 1m74 for 70kg, so the size should not be a problem I suppose :-) .
I plan to go and consult another Doctor who already told me that I was a good candidate for Hip Resurfacing.


I will ask him his thoughts about doing sports with an artificial hip.


I've read lots of posts from very active patients ! So I was very surprised and I am still shocked when he told me that the sports that can be done after surgery are : walking and swimming ...


I am surprised to read that the Hip Resurfacing procedure has lost some practitioners. I thought this was the future of the hip surgeries ...


Thanks a lot !

[blinky]

"Removed from the international market" is an overstatement of what happened. The smaller sized BHR devices were withdrawn and one kind of device had a recall (dePuy? I used to know this stuff).


Anyway, there are still devices on the international market and there are still surgeons who do resurfacing. There are some recent studies, probably on this site, showing that for some categories of patient, including young men who are not too small, HR outperforms THR.

[John C]

That doctor's comments about sports activities may or may not apply to whatever THR device he is using, but it certainly does not apply to resurfacing. From my own experience, I have been skiing hard 4 to 8 hours every day every winter for the past ten years on my resurfaced hip; and windsurfing surfing and playing tennis 4 to 8 hours every day all summer. From my experience, and in talking to my doctor (Dr Gross), I see no reason that this cannot continue. I am getting my other hip resurfaced in April at the end of ski season.
As an interesting side note, windsurfing in high winds and waves involves about as much continuous pounding as one could find in any sport. The board is impacting across the waves and wind chop at around 30 mph, and the affect can be like a jackhammer of small impacts into the joints of the lower body. I had a friend who was a top windsurfer who went through 3 THRs on one side in less than ten years from windsurfing before he gave up the sport. With my resurfacing, I have experienced no ill effects from the same level of activity over a ten year period.
You definitely must collect your own information and make up your own mind, but I would suggest that the information from this one doctor is so inaccurate that it should probably be discounted entirely.

[Saf57]

Assuming you are a good candidate, and use a qualified hip resurfacing surgeon, resurfacing is unquestionably superior to a THR if you want to continue to perform at a high level athletically.

[karlos.bell]

  He or she  is so wrong.
Please read our stories and go see someone that supports Hip resurfacing. He or she seems to be rather negative

[lycraman]

I've not been on the site for a while as I had my resurfacing in Birmingham (UK) in 2014 and haven't had a problem since. I've returned quickly to endurance cycling, yoga, walking and all activities. i have slight restrictions in yoga but hardly noticeable. I think the info you've been given is hysteria from the un-informed general orthopaedic community. Make contact with McMinn or Rohnan Tracy for a real response

[Gav]

When I had my right one done the surgeon told me to carry on walking whilst playing golf, cycling but no more road running which I suppose makes a lot of sense really.

[imgetinold]

I just want to reiterate what many have already said.  Most surgeons who steer you away from resurfacing do so because they do not perform that operation.  The idea that it is no longer recommended is ridiculous.  It is the BEST option for younger, active people.   


I don't have a lot more to offer than has already been stated, but please completely ignore that surgeon's advice and do more research into resurfacing.  I had one hip done in 2012, and one done 20 days ago.  It will completely restore your life (assuming you use a very experienced surgeon).