Jane’s BHR Revision to a THR Failed BHR & Surgeon Experience
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Failed BHR & surgeon experience August 02, 2008 I am 18 months post LBHR and I am posting today with the hope that I can spare anyone contemplating the resurfacing procedure the consequences of choosing a surgeon with insufficient experience. I chose a surgeon who had only recently trained in England, I was his 7th resurfacing procedure. I justified the decision because he was local and had a stellar reputation. I foolishly reasoned that he would not take on a procedure that was beyond his competency. At four weeks I was complaining of snapping, popping and instability in my surgical hip. Those symptoms have persisted with the same periodic reassurance from my surgeon that the x-rays showed that the “prosthesis is in good position without any evidence of loosening or wear”. It was my good fortune to have had Vicky Marlow pick-up on a posting I made on this site earlier this month when I recounted a second opinion from a local orthopedist suggesting that the cup was malpostioned and that I would need conversion to a total hip.Vicky quickly facilitated the expert opinions of resurfacing surgeons who independently concurred that the acetabular component was indeed in the wrong place and that I was at risk for impingement, edge loading and the subsequent shedding of metal ions into the hip capsule and the blood stream. In less than a week, I was seen by Dr. Su in NY. I am scheduled for either a revision or conversion pending the outcome of cobalt/chromium blood levels results. I want to stress the importance of heeding the advice of Vicky, Pat and the surgeons who have made this website such an invaluable resource. I wish that I had appreciated the extreme technical skill required to exact the positioning of resurfacing hardware as well as the expertise necessary for immediate recognition of the symptoms and radiographic evidence of a failed procedure BEFORE I signed that consent form. My heartfelt thanks to Vicky and everyone who contributes to Surface Hippy. I will never again minimize the value of experience. Jane LBHR 2/6/07 |