Simon's story
Our patient, Simon, had been in pain for two years. His main symptoms were pain in the hip and groin area, especially during and after exercise. As a certified Physiotherapist himself and given that conservative treatment – hip injections – were ineffective, Simon decided to move forward with surgical treatment.
Simon's diagnosis
Simon was diagnosed with hip impingement and hip labrum tears and grade I-II hip arthritic chanes.
Hip impingement, also called femoroacetabular impingement, is a structural disorder of the hip. In a healthy joint, the ball of the femur fits perfectly into the acetabulum and glides smoothly during hip movements. However, in hip impingement, bone spurs or structural joint abnormality prevent the painless and free movement of the ball-and-socket joint.
There are three types of hip impingement, Simon was diagnosed with Cam. In cam impingement the femoral head is not round and cannot rotate smoothly inside the acetabulum.
Performing the surgery
Hip arthroscopy is performed if the patient has persistent joint pain, joint locking symptoms or pain during hip movement. It is performed if the patient seeks help in due course before a hip replacement becomes inevitable.
Hip arthroscopy is a minimally invasive hip joint surgery. The word “arthroscopy” literally means “to look inside the joint”. During arthroscopy, the hip joint is operated through small key-hole like incisions, so there is little to no damage to the surrounding tissues. A special miniature camera is used to examine the bones, cartilages, and ligaments. If necessary, the surgeon uses pencil-sized instruments to repair the damaged structures
During Simon’s hip arthroscopy surgery, the tightness of the hip joint was removed and the labrum was repaired using anchor threads.
Reasoning behind the surgery
Given the case where conservative treatments such as hip injections were ineffective and the patient’s hip condition was in a good enough state, it was decided to perform hip arthroscopy. In similar cases like this, hip problems can be treated with hip arthroscopic surgery, actually femoroacetabular impingement and labrum tears are among the most common conditions treated by hip arthroscopy surgery.
Who can benefit from hip arthroscopy?
Hip arthroscopy is a minimally invasive hip joint surgery. The word “arthroscopy” means “to look inside the joint”. Our surgeon, V. Loiba, believes several patients who suffer from hip or groin pain do not yet need a hip replacement. Note that hip replacement surgery is performed when all other treatments have not provided adequate relief, in which case arthroscopy may help.
Through hip arthroscopy, a surgeon can treat the hip without having to make a huge incision and fully expose the joint. An arthroscopic approach allows for a shorter operating time, lower risk of infection, and less scarring. It is a favorable choice of many orthopaedic surgeons because it is less physically demanding on the patient.
Simon's journey in Nordorthopaedics
Simon about the experience:
“The care and treatment I received from the NORD was first class. I would recommend this orthopaedic service to anyone and rate it as excellent in every area. Their team (logistics, administration, nursing, Physiotherapy, and Surgeons) provide an end-to-end service that supports you 100% all of the time. Every time I needed to go to an appointment transport was there on time, everyone is able to speak English to a high standard (much to my embarrassment of the few words I can speak in Lithuanian!), the staff made you feel welcome and looked after, but most importantly my surgeon Dr Valdemar Loiba is one of the top consultants in his field.
