Posted , 8 users are following.
I’m due to have the poly cup and the metal ball of my twenty year old total hip replacement changed in a couple of weeks and wondered if anyone here has had any experience of this procedure. I would be interested in watching a video but cannot find one.
Cheers Richard
1 like, 29 replies
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tracyhipLA3UK RichardKen
Posted
Hi, yes Ive had this done on 21 January this year. Because the stem was left in as the surgeon said he couldn't budge it so no need to take stem out just replace ball head and new plastic liner. To be honest recovery was much better than a HR. If however they have to take stem out, recovery is much longer. I was lucky more or less back to normal now.
RichardKen tracyhipLA3UK
Posted
Dear Tracy
Many thanks for the encouraging information. I think I've been more than fortunate with my hip as first of it was an easy, quick and pain free recovery then it withstood twenty years of very challenging work.
I'm quite confident that my stem is fine so very much the same situation as you but twenty-five years older.
RichardKen
Posted
To pick up on my part finished posting.... I'm interested in hearing roughly how long your revision surgery took and if there was ang problem putting in the replacement poly cup. Am I correct in thinking that the cup is held in place by some sort of metal cage. I wonder how this is fixed.
Cheers Richard
t3chiman RichardKen
Posted
"... I would be interested in watching a video but cannot find one. .."
Hi Richard-
Hmmm, you are right. Seems that they took down a beautifully detailed, 3-hour, THR revision surgery video, starring Wayne Paprosky (an expert in the field.). For me, it was quite a memorable show, especially since I went through a 3 and 1/2 hour revision THR some years prior. My primary was 30 years old. The surgery was very tiring, but the anesthesia guys did a great job, I had very little outright pain.
There is a revision video on YouTube, but it is of very poor quality. Much better is a primary operation. Search for "Dr. Pasquale Petrera". Basically, the same stuff.
Too bad the Paprosky video is gone. Maybe the wayback machine can find it.
Hope this helps.
RichardKen t3chiman
Posted
Thanks very much for that. I've tried the Way back machine without success but a Google search for the Wayne Paprosky brought up a shorter high quality video of a partial revision which I found interesting. I then moved onto looking for the doctor Pasquale Letters video but if is a primary not a revision so I will
RichardKen
Posted
You did so well to get thirty years out of your hip. How did you manage it?
Cheers Richard
t3chiman RichardKen
Posted
"...What I really would like to see is bow removal up the cup is done..."
As I recall, it is pretty standard hammer and chisel work. The surgeon exposes the capsule, dislocates the joint, and pries out the cup.
"...thirty years out of your hip. How did you manage it?..."
Chicago happened to have a future giant in the field of joint replacement working in a medical center convenient to my office. I got a job so expertly done that the young orthopedic docs were drooling over it when I went in for revision. Lucky me. Actually I have a complication that is common in THR patients: heterotopic ossification. It gradually immoblizes the joint, but serves to stabilize it when the surgical implant components fail.
RichardKen t3chiman
Posted
Cheers Richard
t3chiman RichardKen
Posted
"...I wonder what this pioneering prosthesis went on to be called..."
The mechanical engineering and materials science was well defined by work in Europe in the 1960s: google Charnley-Mueller for details. The big advance came in the area of stem fixation, when epoxy cement was abandoned in favor of friction fit.
"...the name of the man or woman behind it..."
Dr. Jorge Galante. Emigrated from Argentina to Chicago to complete his medical studies. A couple of months ago, I fulfilled my dream of visiting Buenos Aires, to see the source of such a surgical talent. Sadly, I learned on my return that he had recently passed away.