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April, I had the arthriscopy done to my hip and in my opnion it does

absolutely nothing unless you have some rare disease that creates small pieces

of

bone/cartlidge that need to be removed. I had the BHR in 04/03 and it has worked

pretty well. JB

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......

CUT

>.....

My question is this; anyone else have a hip arthroscopy procedure

> done who then moved on to hip resurfacing? The surgeon said my next

> step was THR if the pain/deterioration continued.

> I am about to investigate my US hip resurfacing resources (meager

as

> they seem to be) but definitely will move on to Belgium or UK

> professionals if nec.

> Thanks,

> April

Hi April,

I had arthroscopic surgery in my right hip in feb 2003 based on the

fact that an MRI showed cysts which " my " OS thought pointed to a

labral tear that he thought he had a good chance of fixing. I also

had some moderate OA in both hips, but my left hip felt super, so the

tear sounded like a likely culprit. The OS confirmed that he

had " smoothed the tear " and thought the operation was a success.

After this (outpatient) surgery it (the groin!) did not really feel

much different, ROM was not any different, and in fact sleeping

became much worse because of increased radiating nerve pains

(exacerbated I guess by the traction you are put in to open up access

to the joint space).

I was ready for a more drastic measure. In short: I had a resurf in

Nov 2003.(Not with the same OS nor with another one I consulted: both

were pretty arrogant and said when asked about ceramic or MoM that

they did not want to discuss that and they would decide what was best

for me. I am now 7 wks post-op and happy as a clam (never understood

that expression). Even some of my back pains have improved!

Ed

RC+ Mont 11/03

Some more background:

Tennis is my passion and end 2002 I could not really run much

anymore. Sleeping was a problem; I limped, couldn't dance anymore;

the usual misery. 5 months after the arthroscopic surgery incl.

almost 50 PT sessions with various institutions and with the help of

Celebrex the nightly nerve pains were almost gone (hip pains still

there). But that was the only improvement. Not my idea of an

enjoyable life. Meanwhile, from a friend I had heard about an OS

called Mont who did resurfacing (this new magic stuff from Europe).

But in the same sentence he told me about " US insurance not paying

for it because it was not FDA approved " . When I visited Dr Mont more

as window shopping for something out of reach (I could not afford

30k$), he said they could try to get approval with my insurance if I

wanted the surgery, because I was a good candidate. So we set a date

for surgery 11 wks ahead to allow plenty of time to try and retry if

necessary. I did not expect much of it, but his office somehow got it

done :), maybe by using a generic arthroplasty code, similar to what

I have heard mentioned in this forum by other surfhippies. (I don't

want to stir up trouble by trying to find out).

By the way, Mont gave me a cortizone shot on that first (and only)

pre-op visit. Impressed the hell out of me: he did it without the

extra hassle and cost! of scheduling an operating room (as had been

required by my first OS). This shot really reduced my pain for the

full time till my surgery. It also allowed me to play doubles-tennis

almost to an acceptable level.

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Hi April

i had bilateral hip arthroscopy in 2002, the op itself wasn't bad

but afterwards my doc said it just confirmed the lack of cartilage

and showed how much bone-on-bone i am.

i am now down for both hips to be resurfaced, i feel that the

arthroscopy was really just a waste of time as i have had no benefit

from it all. i am now on the waiting list here in uk... let this be

the year. then maybe i can get back to the real world.

good luck to you

jane

jane

> Hi All,

> New to the site, I am a 47 yr old woman, love to XC ski and dance

> and have been unable to do so for a coupla years now.

> I was refered by my very good physical therapist to Dr.

Palmer

> at St Croix Orthopedics in Stillwater, MN. He specializes in hip

> arthroscopy - a surgery in which the hip joint is expanded

slightly;

> enough to get an instrument through and a tiny camera into the

joint

> between the acetabulum and the head of the femur. It is termed

> a " diagnostic procedure " . The joint is then flushed with saline to

> produce kind of an underwater effect. I had a spinal block and

> watched the whole deal on the TV monitor. He scraped at and

> cauterized some furry cartilege, removed a big piece of matter

that

> was rattling around in what he termed the " garbage collector " of

the

> hip (I don't know medical term, sorry). He also trimmed pieces of

a

> labrum tear which I think I got doing some aggresive skiing.He

then

> decided that the OA was too far along to do a procedure he termed

> a " micro-fracture " , removed the instruments and closed the two

> incisions he made with 4 stitches.

> Anyone hear about this here " micro-fracture " procedure? If done,

it

> would have put me on crutches for 6-8 weeks to remove the

> possibility of compression forces. It seems to be a kind of

> cartilege or bone surface rebuilding procedure.

> By the way, I had the surgery in Aug 2003 and I still have pain in

> my r hip enough to stop me from doing the things I love.

> My question is this; anyone else have a hip arthroscopy procedure

> done who then moved on to hip resurfacing? The surgeon said my

next

> step was THR if the pain/deterioration continued.

> I am about to investigate my US hip resurfacing resources (meager

as

> they seem to be) but definitely will move on to Belgium or UK

> professionals if nec.

> Thanks,

> April

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In surfacehippy , " wood1mom "

wrote: " If done, it would have put me on crutches for 6-8 weeks to

remove the possibility of compression forces. "

I was only on crutches for two weeks and I had my right hip

resurfaced. I had at 12 weeks post-op complete mobility, balance and

flexibility that I had as a kid. I can participate in any sport I

wish. This shiny new BHR should last me for about 40 years...since

I'm 53 years old...I think that will do just fine.

Lynda

rBHR / De Smet / 11/12/2002

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  • 3 weeks later...

>April,

I had an arthroscopy done on my left hip in May 2003. Sounds very

similar to the other posters who have responded on this particular

subject. I had bounced around from 1 OS to another, most of whom

told me I had either OA or AVN. Their recomendation: wait until the

pain is so bad, then pull the trigger and have a THR done. Not too

keen on this option, I continued to search, ended up at Good

Samaritan in Baltimore. Dr. Hungerford agreed I was way too young

for a THR, and felt the arthroscopy to be a good approach. Post-op I

was told I had a focal, osteochondral defect (basically a hole in the

cartilage) of my femur, and that I should wait a few months to see

how much the scope job helped me. Well, it didn't help much, if

anything at all. This is not a knock against Dr. Hungerford, I think

he's a great surgeon, just that my problem couldn't be helped by this

particular procedure. He " smoothed " the edges of the cartilage where

the hole was, and hoped that fibrous cartilage would fill in and give

me some relief (it didn't). During a follow-up visit he mentioned an

experimental procedure in which the hole is " plugged " with a fresh

allograft of bone and cartilage. I opted for this, and had the

surgery in October, 2003. A follow-up visit in December confirmed

that this procedure did not fully work either, since a good portion

of the plug had collapsed and not grown back in properly. I now walk

with a very distinct limp, and am severly limited in what activity I

can do. Up until 2 years ago, I was playing in a competitive

baseball league every week, and climbing ladders working on roofs

part time, in addition to my desk job. So, needless to say, I've had

a serious drop off in my abilities. On the up side, I'm scheduled to

see another surgeon at Good Samaritan who specializes in

resurfacing. I don't care how much pain I'm in now, there is no way

I'm letting a surgeon hack me up during a THR. I'm hopeful I'll soon

be a surface hippy, and I sincerely appreciate the folks on this

board sharing their thoughts and bringing this great

technology/procedure into the limelight. Sorry for the ramble.

Tim (NJ)

Hi All,

> New to the site, I am a 47 yr old woman, love to XC ski and dance

> and have been unable to do so for a coupla years now.

> I was refered by my very good physical therapist to Dr.

Palmer

> at St Croix Orthopedics in Stillwater, MN. He specializes in hip

> arthroscopy - a surgery in which the hip joint is expanded

slightly;

> enough to get an instrument through and a tiny camera into the

joint

> between the acetabulum and the head of the femur. It is termed

> a " diagnostic procedure " . The joint is then flushed with saline to

> produce kind of an underwater effect. I had a spinal block and

> watched the whole deal on the TV monitor. He scraped at and

> cauterized some furry cartilege, removed a big piece of matter that

> was rattling around in what he termed the " garbage collector " of

the

> hip (I don't know medical term, sorry). He also trimmed pieces of a

> labrum tear which I think I got doing some aggresive skiing.He then

> decided that the OA was too far along to do a procedure he termed

> a " micro-fracture " , removed the instruments and closed the two

> incisions he made with 4 stitches.

> Anyone hear about this here " micro-fracture " procedure? If done, it

> would have put me on crutches for 6-8 weeks to remove the

> possibility of compression forces. It seems to be a kind of

> cartilege or bone surface rebuilding procedure.

> By the way, I had the surgery in Aug 2003 and I still have pain in

> my r hip enough to stop me from doing the things I love.

> My question is this; anyone else have a hip arthroscopy procedure

> done who then moved on to hip resurfacing? The surgeon said my next

> step was THR if the pain/deterioration continued.

> I am about to investigate my US hip resurfacing resources (meager

as

> they seem to be) but definitely will move on to Belgium or UK

> professionals if nec.

> Thanks,

> April

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Tim:

Sounds like you will be seeing Dr. s. He is one of the two

doctors in land doing resurfacing (Dr. Mont is the other). I have

not met s - I understand he is affiliated with the Orioles (may

be good or bad news depending on your baseball sentiments).

> >April,

>

> I had an arthroscopy done on my left hip in May 2003. Sounds very

> similar to the other posters who have responded on this particular

> subject. I had bounced around from 1 OS to another, most of whom

> told me I had either OA or AVN. Their recomendation: wait until the

> pain is so bad, then pull the trigger and have a THR done. Not too

> keen on this option, I continued to search, ended up at Good

> Samaritan in Baltimore. Dr. Hungerford agreed I was way too young

> for a THR, and felt the arthroscopy to be a good approach. Post-op I

> was told I had a focal, osteochondral defect (basically a hole in the

> cartilage) of my femur, and that I should wait a few months to see

> how much the scope job helped me. Well, it didn't help much, if

> anything at all. This is not a knock against Dr. Hungerford, I think

> he's a great surgeon, just that my problem couldn't be helped by this

> particular procedure. He " smoothed " the edges of the cartilage where

> the hole was, and hoped that fibrous cartilage would fill in and give

> me some relief (it didn't). During a follow-up visit he mentioned an

> experimental procedure in which the hole is " plugged " with a fresh

> allograft of bone and cartilage. I opted for this, and had the

> surgery in October, 2003. A follow-up visit in December confirmed

> that this procedure did not fully work either, since a good portion

> of the plug had collapsed and not grown back in properly. I now walk

> with a very distinct limp, and am severly limited in what activity I

> can do. Up until 2 years ago, I was playing in a competitive

> baseball league every week, and climbing ladders working on roofs

> part time, in addition to my desk job. So, needless to say, I've had

> a serious drop off in my abilities. On the up side, I'm scheduled to

> see another surgeon at Good Samaritan who specializes in

> resurfacing. I don't care how much pain I'm in now, there is no way

> I'm letting a surgeon hack me up during a THR. I'm hopeful I'll soon

> be a surface hippy, and I sincerely appreciate the folks on this

> board sharing their thoughts and bringing this great

> technology/procedure into the limelight. Sorry for the ramble.

>

> Tim (NJ)

>

> Hi All,

> > New to the site, I am a 47 yr old woman, love to XC ski and dance

> > and have been unable to do so for a coupla years now.

> > I was refered by my very good physical therapist to Dr.

> Palmer

> > at St Croix Orthopedics in Stillwater, MN. He specializes in hip

> > arthroscopy - a surgery in which the hip joint is expanded

> slightly;

> > enough to get an instrument through and a tiny camera into the

> joint

> > between the acetabulum and the head of the femur. It is termed

> > a " diagnostic procedure " . The joint is then flushed with saline to

> > produce kind of an underwater effect. I had a spinal block and

> > watched the whole deal on the TV monitor. He scraped at and

> > cauterized some furry cartilege, removed a big piece of matter that

> > was rattling around in what he termed the " garbage collector " of

> the

> > hip (I don't know medical term, sorry). He also trimmed pieces of a

> > labrum tear which I think I got doing some aggresive skiing.He then

> > decided that the OA was too far along to do a procedure he termed

> > a " micro-fracture " , removed the instruments and closed the two

> > incisions he made with 4 stitches.

> > Anyone hear about this here " micro-fracture " procedure? If done, it

> > would have put me on crutches for 6-8 weeks to remove the

> > possibility of compression forces. It seems to be a kind of

> > cartilege or bone surface rebuilding procedure.

> > By the way, I had the surgery in Aug 2003 and I still have pain in

> > my r hip enough to stop me from doing the things I love.

> > My question is this; anyone else have a hip arthroscopy procedure

> > done who then moved on to hip resurfacing? The surgeon said my next

> > step was THR if the pain/deterioration continued.

> > I am about to investigate my US hip resurfacing resources (meager

> as

> > they seem to be) but definitely will move on to Belgium or UK

> > professionals if nec.

> > Thanks,

> > April

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Tim:

Sounds like you will be seeing Dr. s. He is one of the two

doctors in land doing resurfacing (Dr. Mont is the other). I have

not met s - I understand he is affiliated with the Orioles (may

be good or bad news depending on your baseball sentiments).

> >April,

>

> I had an arthroscopy done on my left hip in May 2003. Sounds very

> similar to the other posters who have responded on this particular

> subject. I had bounced around from 1 OS to another, most of whom

> told me I had either OA or AVN. Their recomendation: wait until the

> pain is so bad, then pull the trigger and have a THR done. Not too

> keen on this option, I continued to search, ended up at Good

> Samaritan in Baltimore. Dr. Hungerford agreed I was way too young

> for a THR, and felt the arthroscopy to be a good approach. Post-op I

> was told I had a focal, osteochondral defect (basically a hole in the

> cartilage) of my femur, and that I should wait a few months to see

> how much the scope job helped me. Well, it didn't help much, if

> anything at all. This is not a knock against Dr. Hungerford, I think

> he's a great surgeon, just that my problem couldn't be helped by this

> particular procedure. He " smoothed " the edges of the cartilage where

> the hole was, and hoped that fibrous cartilage would fill in and give

> me some relief (it didn't). During a follow-up visit he mentioned an

> experimental procedure in which the hole is " plugged " with a fresh

> allograft of bone and cartilage. I opted for this, and had the

> surgery in October, 2003. A follow-up visit in December confirmed

> that this procedure did not fully work either, since a good portion

> of the plug had collapsed and not grown back in properly. I now walk

> with a very distinct limp, and am severly limited in what activity I

> can do. Up until 2 years ago, I was playing in a competitive

> baseball league every week, and climbing ladders working on roofs

> part time, in addition to my desk job. So, needless to say, I've had

> a serious drop off in my abilities. On the up side, I'm scheduled to

> see another surgeon at Good Samaritan who specializes in

> resurfacing. I don't care how much pain I'm in now, there is no way

> I'm letting a surgeon hack me up during a THR. I'm hopeful I'll soon

> be a surface hippy, and I sincerely appreciate the folks on this

> board sharing their thoughts and bringing this great

> technology/procedure into the limelight. Sorry for the ramble.

>

> Tim (NJ)

>

> Hi All,

> > New to the site, I am a 47 yr old woman, love to XC ski and dance

> > and have been unable to do so for a coupla years now.

> > I was refered by my very good physical therapist to Dr.

> Palmer

> > at St Croix Orthopedics in Stillwater, MN. He specializes in hip

> > arthroscopy - a surgery in which the hip joint is expanded

> slightly;

> > enough to get an instrument through and a tiny camera into the

> joint

> > between the acetabulum and the head of the femur. It is termed

> > a " diagnostic procedure " . The joint is then flushed with saline to

> > produce kind of an underwater effect. I had a spinal block and

> > watched the whole deal on the TV monitor. He scraped at and

> > cauterized some furry cartilege, removed a big piece of matter that

> > was rattling around in what he termed the " garbage collector " of

> the

> > hip (I don't know medical term, sorry). He also trimmed pieces of a

> > labrum tear which I think I got doing some aggresive skiing.He then

> > decided that the OA was too far along to do a procedure he termed

> > a " micro-fracture " , removed the instruments and closed the two

> > incisions he made with 4 stitches.

> > Anyone hear about this here " micro-fracture " procedure? If done, it

> > would have put me on crutches for 6-8 weeks to remove the

> > possibility of compression forces. It seems to be a kind of

> > cartilege or bone surface rebuilding procedure.

> > By the way, I had the surgery in Aug 2003 and I still have pain in

> > my r hip enough to stop me from doing the things I love.

> > My question is this; anyone else have a hip arthroscopy procedure

> > done who then moved on to hip resurfacing? The surgeon said my next

> > step was THR if the pain/deterioration continued.

> > I am about to investigate my US hip resurfacing resources (meager

> as

> > they seem to be) but definitely will move on to Belgium or UK

> > professionals if nec.

> > Thanks,

> > April

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Hey Tim,

Thank you for sharing your experiences of the plugging procedure.

And good luck in your journey to recover some of your active life

again. It's interesting that we have been advised to go from

relatively conservative procedures (arthroscopy, plugging, micro-

fracture) to one so very drastic as THR.

I am seeking Dr. Gross to do a resurface, but I have yet to get a

call from him.

I did go into my family prac to get the x-rays. When I told him what

they were for and presented him with a number of studies and

articles on resurfacing, he told me that probably his group -

meaning my clinic - would likely be billed for the procedure because

they do not provide it. Has anyone heard of this insurance trick???

April

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