Hip replacement - Revision surgery
Posted , 3 users are following.
My mum had a hip replacement in Dec 22. Following a suspected infection, she had a debridement surgery 30 days later where they reopened the wound and washed off the wound site and replaced the mobile parts of the prosthetic.
Since then her CRP levels have never been satisfactory (an elevated CRP is an indicator of an infection in the body).
Recently she had a series of tests: ultrasound, needle aspiration from the wound site, CT scan and MRI. Although it looks like some fluid is present, the aspiration was negative.
Last week we saw one of the surgeons who said he wants to do one more aspiration: should they be able to identify the infection, they would replace the hip in one go as they can target the wound site with specific antibiotics.
Should the aspiration come back negative again, they will remove the prosthetic, leave my mum with a temporary hip for 6 months (on antibiotics), then do a new surgery to fit a new prosthetic.
I am a little perplexed by this approach, mainly because no infection has been found yet and the only parameter they are making these decisions is the elevated CRP.
Am I right in looking for a 2nd opinion? My mum is 74 years old and overweight so 1 or 2 more surgeries would not be easy on her.
0 likes, 3 replies
jodi10969 marcouk76
Posted
Definitely get a second opinion. The infection/inflammation may not be in her surgical area but somewhere else in the body. I'm the same age, weight as your mom. It's a good thing you are there to advocate for her. In my experience, health care personnel have a set protocol for certain patient complaints. They don't seem to listen to us as we know our bodies much better than they do. They truly need to be more thorough in their diagnoses. Keep me posted.
marcouk76 jodi10969
Posted
Thank you Jodi. This is what I am trying to do now but it's proving to be very challenging.
I need a copy of all these scans she's just done and the waiting time for them to release them is up to 30 days!
Obviously if the infection is indeed in her hip my mum cannot wait that long but so far no one will listen.
I will keep trying.
jodi10969 marcouk76
Posted
Here in Florida, we have access to all our medical records and test results via a Patient Portal. I can usually get test results back in one to two days. Check the testing place to see if they have a patient portal. Are you here in the United States?