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Infection with hip spacer and incision not healed after 1 year.
My husband had an accident and broken hip in Feb 2024. He had a hip replacement that got infected. That was removed and a antibiotic space was put in. He was on antibiotics until the infection cleared up and then had a total hip revision. That got infected too. The doctors tried to debride the infection, that didn't work, so the revision was removed and another antibiotic spacer was put in August 2024. He was a long time recovering and the surgery incision still hadn't healed totally and was draining. He was getting around really well with a walker and rollator and the pain was minimal. The incision finally closed in May 2025, but within a couple of weeks, the incision reopened in another part of the scar and now seems to be infected and he is in a lot of pain. Doctor says it isn't infected, but our community nurse disagrees. We are not sure what to do! He has also had a catheter since the original surgery. He has had low platelets for a number of years prior to breaking his hip, but has never received any treatments and has been told this is not the source of his issues. Any help would be appreciated.
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I had a similar issue with a hip that kept draining . As in your husband's case, Dr also said to me that it wasn't infected. After enduring months of concerning draining, we finally went to a second opinion. Turns out it HAD been infected and that whole time, the (two!) injections consumed so much of the tissue around my hip that when the Dr had to go in to remove it, I didn't have enough bone left for it to be replaced again. I looked into suing the first Dr, but because I never exhibited any fever or other typical infection symptoms, he was apparently within a reasonable standard of care. Lesson here: get a second opinion!
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3 ReactionsThanks for your reply! It just so happens, after I wrote this post I had to take him to emergency. Turns out he too has had an ongoing infection and was septic. He is having emergency surgery today to try to either debride the site or replace the spacer. The did say that they wouldn't know if they could do this or if as in your case the bone has deteriorated to the point they won't be able to replace. |Just a waiting game now to see what happens!
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1 ReactionI'm so sorry to read this about your husband and it's still hard to believe some surgeons deny there is infection when often times there is! I'm 72 and had infection of a 17 year old hip replacement 3 years ago that resulted in sepsis and loss of my joint (Girdlestone) I'm doing ok with no real pain and get around with a walker or crutches. If you are on Facebook, a group was started this spring called "Gird;estone Procedure Outcomes" and there are 67 members last time I was on the site from all over the world. If your husband's surgery is not successful and he ends up with no hip joint (Girdlestone, named after a Dr Girdlestone who performed the first one) feel free to join the group. There is lots of info on there if you read comments of others. Some of us do much better than others with it, I personally had excellent care post op, continue to exercise daily and consider myself one of the lucky ones! Wishing your husband the best! Cindy
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1 ReactionThank you! So far so good. He had the hip infection debrided and cleaned out yesterday and they didn't have to remove the spacer. He is in ICU getting treatment for the sepsis. They are optimistic that this worked! But we will have to wait and see.
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1 ReactionThat's wonderful news! Prayers for continued healing for your husband and you be sure to take care of yourself too! Cindy