Loosening of hip after a total hip replacement

Posted by hiproblems @hiproblems, May 21 10:48am

I’m 30 years old, and a year ago I had a total hip replacement. I wanted to share my experience since then — it hasn’t gone the way I hoped, and I’m looking for support or anyone who’s been through something similar.
Ever since the surgery, I’ve had groin pain that just never went away. I did physical therapy for 6 months with no real improvement.
My doctor referred me for an injection to see if that would help — but unfortunately, it didn’t. The pain stayed the same.
After that, I had an MRI. It showed “edema tracking in the iliopsoas muscle and into the musculotendinous junction and proximal tendon.” Based on that, my doctor thought I might need an iliopsoas tendon lengthening surgery and referred me to a different specialist.
That doctor agreed it might help — but before jumping to surgery, we tried another injection and also ran blood work and a bone scan to rule out other issues. The bone scan came back showing signs that the prosthetic might be loosening — which was honestly devastating to hear. Now, my doctor is consulting with other orthopedic surgeons. He believes I may need another surgery to replace the socket. Hearing that just one year after my first surgery… I was heartbroken. I feel lost and unsure of what to do — I really just don’t want to live in constant pain. The pain has gotten worse and now radiates down to my knee. I’m still waiting on the next steps, but I’m sharing this in case anyone has been through something similar. If you’ve had complications after a hip replacement, or dealt with iliopsoas issues or a loose prosthesis — I’d love to hear your story. Right now I just need some guidance and hope.
Thanks for reading. It’s hard to be so open, but if this thread can connect me to someone else out there in the same boat, it’s worth it. 💙

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@loriesco

I am so sorry to hear this! Absolutely the truth is you have to be your own advocate! I went through 20 years being at the wrong kind of doctor and neurosurgeon, before I was at an orthopedic surgeon; from there, I spent another four years fielding for surgeons before I found my Prince charming. In that delay, I suffered permanent nerve damage from the discs, falling completely out in my lumbar back and the bones grafting together. They had to be saw apart infused. My first orthopedic surgeon got mad at me and wouldn’t do the surgery. By the time I got to the fourth orthopedic surgeon, he told me that he did all the revisions for the surgeon that got mad at me! I carried around upset and insecurity for four years, and it was devastating to me. When a friend told me he was going to that first surgeon who was published, beloved by the local hospital, handsome, so he was on the local hospitals, television commercials-I set out to tell my friend don’t go to this guy, and I found a lawsuit against the first surgeon for neglect! By the grace of God I go and I was very lucky that that first surgeon did not do my surgery. Before that I had to complete hip surgeries after researching types of THR and reviews on surgeons. I had the best materials (which I didn’t even know at the time about materials. I was so busy, researching reviews and types of surgery that I didn’t know. Materials needed to be understood as well). I am very sorry you could not get good care for your wife, but don’t give up and keep going! When you mentioned “loose“ what I thought of was the possibility of not rest strengthening the adjacent muscles, which need to be very strong to help hold everything in place after the surgery. I wish you good luck on finding a great surgeon. If you are near San Diego, Ucsd has a great team of orthopedic surgeons that I can vouch for. They teach future doctors so they have to be good and they have a lot of experience and they’re not in it for the money.

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Hopefully, no more hip surgeries here! I’m in Vermont!

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@dannyandebbie

Hopefully, no more hip surgeries here! I’m in Vermont!

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There are great university medical centers on the east coast too!

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I had hip replacement 6 years ago. Then this past summer my leg in the front would hurt a lot then in November my hip started squeaking, like a squeak toy. I ended up 3 days later having revision hip surgery. My plastic liner inside the cup had broken apart and the femur head was scraping the cup. This surgery seems harder to recoup from and hurt a lot. But it’s all good now. I hope all goes good for you and the pain goes away.

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@dannyandebbie

I agree! Second opinion is the best! A surgeon doesn’t like to be questioned, it’s their reputation on the line. My wife had a total bilateral, surgeon come to me in waiting room, all went well, recovery should be out to get you in about 15 minutes…..5 hours later, I started getting very upset because no one had come to get me and most staff had gone home for the day. After I got on the phone and made it clear that I wanted to see my wife I was sent to another floor where they said my wife would be, get there, no one knew anything about her, went back to recovery and demanded an explanation, oh! She just went to her room, back to another floor I went and she was there. Black & Blue from head to toe. They attempted to get her up to walk, femur nerves was compressed or severed in left leg, had to place a mobilized brace in order to walk with help from a walker and two people at her side. Seven days in ICU and then transferred to rehab at Fanny Allen in Burlington Vermont. Second day there, dropped onto shower floor because attending physician omitted mobilizer on at all times in his written orders for the nurses. Wife in Constant pain and on heavy pain medication for 9 months. Finally, femur nerve starts to regenerate. Wife has X-ray of right hip, fractured pelvic, revision required ASAP. Her surgeon expresses, “ This Time, I will preform the surgery “‘ wife says, “ Who in the hell did it the first time, why was I black and blue from head to toe, even my breast were all bruised “; never did receive an answer. Well, revision was preformed, pain in groin area was intense, follow up showed Cobalt / Chromium poisoning and loose replacement on left hip; another revision recommended. The surgeon that supposedly did the first two operations had left the facility to another hospital to practice on patients, we followed to that hospital, he gave us the sense that he did not want to provide care to my wife. So, we went back to original hospital with a new surgeon; his last name was “Moschetti”. He preformed a revision on the left hip. Pain was consistent in her groin area; nothing really seemed to help. Four years go by and wife goes in for a routine follow up, blood test was preformed and What, Cobalt / Chromium levels dangerously elevated and two staph infection; complete hip implant removed from right side, port placed, 8 weeks in IV Antibiotics, revision preformed.
Update! Hips do not seem to be an issue…lower back, where they have placed several epidurals, degenerative bone disease. Of course they say it is not from the epidurals! Maybe not, who knows.
I share this for one real reason! You and only You know your body inside and out! My wife often say, had she had this to do all over again, she never would have had it done, I’m not so sure, she was in a lot of pain prior!
Not any one person took any responsibility for all that “WE” went through! I was working a full time job as was my wife prior to her first total Bilateral; which needless to say lead to her employer terminating her position.
You know your body better than anyone! Be loud and strong, you sense something wrong, stay on it until you feel you have been heard! A revision is not the end of the world and in fact, if there is something wrong with your current implant you will not heal completely because your internal organs are designed to reject something that is possibly harming your body!
Best of Luck!

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Wow what a story Danny, thanks for sharing. It certainly is a story of perseverance in the presence of, what - medical indifference at best, medical malpractice at worst?

I completely agree that if you find yourself in a situation that can't be explained by your current medical team - find another. There are great doctors out there, and some not so great.

I hope your wife, and you, are better. Thanks for sharing your story - as a lesson for people going through something similar, or as a lesson on second-opinions and pre-op research.

FWIW - I look for doctors/surgeons in their mid 30s to early 40s, with a solid pedigree from a medical college and/or residency, and solid referrals. My knee and hip surgeon got his degree from LSU and did his residency at Cleveland Clinic. The acceptance place at both institutions is around 3%.

Thanks again Danny, and all the best to you and your wife.

Joe

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@skipper60

I had hip replacement 6 years ago. Then this past summer my leg in the front would hurt a lot then in November my hip started squeaking, like a squeak toy. I ended up 3 days later having revision hip surgery. My plastic liner inside the cup had broken apart and the femur head was scraping the cup. This surgery seems harder to recoup from and hurt a lot. But it’s all good now. I hope all goes good for you and the pain goes away.

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Wow I'm glad you got your hip fixed Skipper. Once that plastic liner is damaged, the metal ball of the femur can be in contact with the metal cup on the pelvis. That can lead to metal getting into your system, not a good thing.

Thanks for sharing your experience. It is never too soon to see a Dr if you suspect something need to be addressed/fixed.

I'm so glad you're better now.

Joe

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