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Open gluteus medius and minimus repair pain 15 months post op

Posted by jaysaki @jaysaki, Apr 14 11:29am

Anyone else have an open gluteus medius and minimus repair and still in pain 15 months post op? I have done 5 months pre and post operative physical therapy for this injury that started almost 3 years ago. I cannot seem to get my surgeon to understand the amount of pain I am still experiencing. I have experienced next to no relief from the procedure and have lost so much of my active lifestyle. The surgeon keeps insisting it's bursitis and tendonitis even though the bursa was removed and new bursa should have grown by now. They insist the glute is healed when all of my pain is exactly as it was pre op. They have injected the area with steroids and I have done a round of pills with no real relief. I managed to maintain quite a bit of strength in my hip abductor through this entire process which made it take even longer to get diagnosed and now they are using that as the single determining factor when I go in for my follow ups and saying it is healed. There are almost no doctors in my area that do this procedure so I am out of luck for getting a second opinion. I am following up again next week and even tried to be proactive and ask for a post op MRI before my visit. They outright refused saying they don't want to do any imaging until they are sure what is causing the pain even though I have consistently told them the same things every visit. I have never experienced anything like this with any physician. It is bizarre and very discouraging at this point. Any tips or similar experience with this procedure?

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jaysaki | @jaysaki | Apr 18 5:14am
In reply to @jimhd "My wife has been going through a very similar situation. She had a gluteus maximus repair,..." + (show)
@jimhd

My wife has been going through a very similar situation. She had a gluteus maximus repair, with pain continuing, then a hip replacement, with pain continuing. A doctor finally discovered a torn muscle that had been overlooked for so long that it was atrophied beyond the point of repair, so she was told that the debilitating pain would be something that would have to be managed the rest of her life.

Most recently she saw a physiatrist, who referred her to a nerve ablation specialist. Last week, after a trial injection of anesthesia to the nerve at the hip joint, she had a nerve ablation. She had very welcome relief the day after ablation, but the longer term effect won't kick in for 2 or 3 weeks. She has gone through a bunch of cortisone injections over the past several years, too, with no benefit.

The surgeon who did the muscle repair missed the second tear. The same surgeon missed the damage below my ankle when he did repair to my ankle, now requiring a fusion. Frustrating.

It's great that you are taking initiative in getting the appropriate treatment. Doctors can be dismissive, unfortunately. If one won't pay attention, you can try getting the tests and treatment from a different doctor. A physiatrist is a good resource, as they tend to look at the bigger picture than the other doctors who can get focused on what they think they know.

Jim

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Thank you for sharing and happy your wife is finally receiving the care and relief she needs. It is extremely frustrating to be constantly expressing concern and communicating non-relief of original symtoms only to be told, I am healed. I have lost so much time and missed out on so many activities. I have had multiple steroid injections in the area and worry that something was missed and these injections have done more damage than good. I have confirmed that the surgeon I saw here is the only one in this speciality within my state so my next step at this point is probably to travel to Boston to seek a second opinion and basically start over again. I hope that your wife continues to find relief from her procedure.

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