Sunday, June 27, 2010

When in Doubt, Find An Experienced Surgeon

When I had my appointment with BK, we did some talking about why my surgeries failed and what he has learned, and why his surgeries no longer fail. Unfortunately for me, I got injured 3 years too early. Lucky for everyone else, he too has (and the other "big names") changed his technique. For starters, I could have avoided revision surgery #1 bc now he ALWAYS takes down cam impingement in women. He has found that addressing just a pincer is a big mistake bc women for the most part have larger femoral heads, by doing a rim decompression the problem is just exacerbated. I could have avoided revision #2 bc he now ALWAYS closes the capsule at the end of the surgery, way back when, it was left open. Some lucky few of us subluxed our hips and required the capsule to be tightened (hence the capsular shift I most recently underwent).

What I thought was so interesting was that he was able to just look at my plain x-rays and see that my left was done with the old techniques, and the right with new techniques. He has taken some bone down in each surgery and the final result is a "perfectly shaped" hip on the right! The left looks good, but not quite as "beautiful" as the right, despite the fact that the left NEVER gives me trouble.

4 comments:

Louisa B said...

are you better now, do you think surgery is behind you now?

Anonymous said...

I think that is really what happened with me as well...techniques and knowledge got better. My surgeon would never admit that though....
Soccermom

Susie said...

Surgery is behind me!!! All the time I thought I was subluxing, it was really the opposite, the super tight capsule was snapping painfully. I have to continue to stretch it out and with time I hope it will completely stop snapping.

GG said...

The best arthroscopy doc in the world is Dr. J.W. Thomas Byrd in Nashville, TN. I recommend him so very highly. My hip was a mess 2 1/2 years ago. I couldn't walk more than a few hundred feet or do stairs or walk my dog. He found that my hip was ready to be replaced. My cartilage was worn down to the bone from a cam impingement. He did a femoroplasty, microfractures to grow new cartilage, and several other procedures. While I can't run a marathon, I can do what's important to me -- get through 95% of my days pain-free, walk 2 miles, and stairs are no problem. He bought me several years' time until I have to have the replacement I dread. The other big arthroscopy "stars" can't hold a candle to him, as good as they are. I follow your blog and I know you've been through so much. My thoughts are with you for a full recovery.