avascular necrosis

[deborama]

Hi there new here,  I don't know if you mind me posting about this.  I was diagnosed with avascular necrosis in the beginning of July and have had core decompression surgery for this a little over a week ago.  I was wondering if there was anyone in the group with the same problem.  i was anxious to share stories and recovery notes with anyone with the same.  Thank-you.

[deborama]

should have said it was my left hip that was affected!  This is the procedure they choose first before hip replacement.

[pwalter]

Hi

Welcome to Total Hip Talk.

I know a number of people try core decompression and sometimes it works and other times it doesn't.  I am not a doctor and can't give you medical advice.  I do hope that it does work for you.  If it doesn't, then you will be facing either a hip resurfacing or total hip replacement to solve your avn problem. 

I hope you won't have to search further, but if you do, both my websites will provide information.  This discussion group is still small and I don't know if you will find anyone else that had the same treament as you did. I hope you do.

I appreciate you posting and hope you will keep us updated.  Good Luck.

Pat

[deborama]

Thank-you for your kind reply Pat.  It has been almost three weeks since I have had the decompression.  The reduction in pain is unbelievable.  It feels so good that I would like to throw away the crutches and start walking.  I hope that I am not doing myself any further damage but I am bearing a bit of weight and taking a few steps here and there.  It took a year and a half before they found out this problem!!
So far so good.  I will keep checking back.  Good luck to all in recovery.
Debo.

[skidog824]

Hi deborama,
I had severe AVN in my left hip.  According to the research I was able to find (after hours of searching) generally indicated that the success of a core decompression is inversely proportionate to the 'involvement' in the femoral head.  My MRI's showed that about 30-40% of my femoreal head had been affected (I broke my hip skiing and the blood vessels feeding the head were severed).  Most of the research indicated the the CD was effective at less than 10% involvement.  The core decompression didn't do anything for me - I wasn't in pain before the surgery (or after) , but by 9 months post-op my femoral head had begun to collapse, and I had a THR approximately 16 months after the original core decompression (and 3 years after I originally broke the femoral neck).  Hopefully you will have a successful CD.  In the meantime my THR has been great - I'm 6 months post-op, playing tennis, golf and looking forward to skiing - and am 99.9% pain free.

I would be careful about weight bearing - the purpose of the CD is to get 'fresh' bone to grow in to support the femoral head.  If the bone hasn't done so, it could be premature to weight-bear and cause the collapse that leads to hip pain and replacement (I understand that once the femoral head collapses, there's no 'going back').

Good luck -hopefully yours works out!

[deborama]

Well guess what it didn't work now I am waiting for a partial hip replacement they want to replace the femur.  The current wait time for this in my city is 6 months!!  I am doing okay pain wise but take an awful lot of painkillers.  This has been a 2 year process, and I am just anxious to get it over with!

[lepetodrilus]

Sorry to hear that the core decompression didn't work.  I also had avn (of unknown origin - I have no known risk factors) in my right hip, but was not diagnosed until it was too far gone to save the joint (mild arthritis to collapse took just three months).  I had a total hip replacement (metal on metal) two months later at 56 and two years later I'm pain-free, with almost as good range of motion in the operated hip as the other one.  My only advice to you would be to choose a good surgeon and to work hard at physical therapy after the surgery.  I still do all my PT exercises and stretches to maintain my strength and flexibility.  It's time-consuming, but worth it!

[pwalter]

Hi lepetodrilus

Welcome to Total Hip Talk.  Glad to hear everything worked well for you.  MOM THRs work fine for active people.  You are correct to choose a surgoen that is very experinced and does a lot of hip replacement. I have medical studies posted on both my sites that show the surgeons and hospitals that specialize and do a lot of hip or knee replacements have better outcomes than those that do a little of this and a little of that.  Try to choose surgeons that specialize in hips.  I have a large list of hip resurfacing surgeons on my other site - they are also very experinced at THRs.  Resurfacing is a very diffiuclt surgery so they are very talented doing both.  http://www.surfacehippy.info/listofdoctors.php

Thanks for sharing your story.

Pat

[marilynu]

I haven't learned how to use these boards yet, but would like to contribute that 3 weeks ago, I too, had a diagnosis of bilaterall AVN of the femoral head.  Since I (apparently from the MRI & pain levels) have had this at least a year, we are "rushing " into THR.  I am learning so much here about different types of HR's, so much I need to ask the OS before I have the surgery --July 6!!!  What are the most timportant questions I should ask, insist upon, demand, schedule etc.  At a total loss.  hav had a tkr, but not this "speedy"
thank you sso mucch for your kind direction. marilynu

Hi there new here,  I don't know if you mind me posting about this.  I was diagnosed with avascular necrosis in the beginning of July and have had core decompression surgery for this a little over a week ago.  I was wondering if there was anyone in the group with the same problem.  i was anxious to share stories and recovery notes with anyone with the same.  Thank-you.

[pwalter]

Hi

I have a long, detailed list of questions to ask your hip resurfacing surgeon.  Many of the questions are the same for a THR.  http://www.surfacehippy.info/questionsfordoctor.php  Look at it and it will help you know what to ask.

Becuase you have AVN is no reason to have to rush into a THR.  THere are stages of AVN and for resurfacing, you have to wait until the later stages.  You surgeon just wants to get you out of pain, I assume.  You still have almost a month to ask questions and think about everything.

To me the most important questions is what type of THR you are getting.  If you are younger and want to stay active you should be getting  MOM  metal on metal large ball THR or ceramic on ceramic large ball THR.  If you get the old fashioned small ball  plastic/metal THR, they will limit what you can do and can dislocate easily.  You do need to find out what you are getting.  Many people with the old fashioned THRs can't even cross their legs.  So ask questions of the doctor or his office.  Ifyou are not happy, cancel your surgery and make it at a later date.  You do have control.  YOu don't have to take the first surgery date.  Many of us with resurfacings, cancelled our THRs and got resurfacings.  You are in control since you pay the doctor thru your insurance company.  You just need to stand up for yourself.  If you doctor is not listening to you - find another surgeon.

Pat