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THR Complication nightmare

Posted , 5 users are following.

shelly2468
shelly2468

My friend who is a 52 year old woman had a THR on September 27, 2017. She was discharged home without a brace or without home care. She did go to PT for 6 wks before her first dislocation. Then she was fitted with a brace which she wore continuously except to shower. 2 weeks later another dislocation in late November.Then on December 12 , she had total hip revision surgery which included a locking mechanism thT would "prevent any further dislocations" as she was told by her surgeon. She was discharged with a much better brace this time and told to not do any physical therapy and minimal activity to give it time to heal. She developed a fever and was admitted to the hospital on December 20. This time with a raging staphylococcus infection in her hip. The surgeons then removed all hardware, flushed the site and cemented a temporary hip with a spacer and beads filled with time-release antibiotics. She was discharged home with instructions for 6 weeks of antibiotic infusion therapy 3 x per day. After about 3 weeks her pain became increasingly worse to the point of not being able to bear weight on that hip at all. After 6 weeks of antibiotics, she was advised to take a 2 week antibiotic holiday and then have fluid from the hip to be tested for infection. Less than one week into the so-called "holiday", she again was admitted into the hospital with excruciating pain that became unbearable! The infection had returned or not been alleviated after all and The surgeon performed an emergency surgery to remove all hardware. The surgeon explained that after they opened her up they found and enormous abscess larger than a grapefruit around her temporary hip! Now she is in recovery with a cemented temporary hip without a joint. She will have another 8weeks of infusion therapy before she will have yet another surgery, her 4th, before she can begin the long haul to recovery. We are curious to know if anyone has experienced having a temporary hip with no joint and if so, what are some tips for getting more mobility and will she eventually be able to move about with less pain? It's two days after this surgery and she said it feels like when she takes a step it feels like her foot sinks into "quicksand". Any help is greatly appreciated.

1 like, 4 replies

4 Replies

  • michael11283
    michael11283 shelly2468

    Posted

    Shelly

    There's a thread on this site about two stage revision. And Simon just posted that he was going home after his second stage only using one crutch.

    I'm having my first stage in 4 weeks. Poor Simon was a long time between stages 1 and 2 but I imagine it depends what the infection is and how it reacts to antibiotics.

    I've been told that I may be able to partially weight bear between stage 1 and 2.

    There are one or two other posts from other "infected joint" patients but, fortunately, there aren't too many of us.

    Good luck to your friend

    Mike

  • Milvain34
    Milvain34 shelly2468

    Posted

    Hi Shelly.  I can feel your pain.  I had 7 hip operations in 1` year due to dislocations and then infection.  The pain with the infections is unimaginable to anyone who has not felt it!  My last operation the pain before was so bad, I couldn't touch my buttock.  The doctors took out all hardware and I now have no hip at all.  The bone spontaneously fused.  So I'm back to what I was before I started.  The infection is gone thank goodness.  My leg is 7 cm shorter than the other one, but having lived with a fused hip most of my life, I am used to it.  I don't think I would ever chance having another try at a replacement.  Keep your chin up and use pain killers and walking aides as needed, no matter what anyone says.  This is your life and you must do what you need to do for yourself.

    Good luck.

  • shelly2468
    shelly2468

    Posted

    Correction: she is in recovery without a hip joint at all so that there would be no question about eliminating all of the infection.
  • beth2509
    beth2509 shelly2468

    Posted

    My commiserations - I was given dire warnings that this might happen to me, not the dislocations, but the two stages. When my osteonecrosis was found - the original hip literally crumbled away one evening! - my CRP levels were through the roof, and the surgeon army in and packed the hip with antibiotics. For various reasons I couldn't have the hip replaced as soon as it should have been, and the surgeon told me that if there was the slightest chance of an infection being detected there I would wake up in a different hospital! I didn't, there was no two stage needed, and I was lucky. But it sounded pretty grim, so I can only imagine what your friend had gone through. 

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