Hip “Hip” Hooray! Surgery Cuts Pain & Recovery Time

PHOENIX  (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Popping the bone out of the socket, huge incisions that leave huge scars and a lot of down-time...that’s what many hip surgery patients have to go through. We'll show you how a new innovative treatment is cutting pain and recovery time with much smaller cuts.

She used to run 26.2 miles at a time, but recently, Meghan Krein couldn’t run without excruciating pain.

"You know the worst case scenario going through my mind was I might never be able to do this again," Meghan Krein, told Ivanhoe.

She was suffering from abnormal contact between the bones of her hip. It can tear the labrum, which is soft tissue that cushions the joint like a gasket. Dr. Matthew Hansen specializes in helping people with the painful problem.

"In somebody like Meghan, when the socket was a little bit too deep and rotated toward the back, this predisposed her to getting pinching of the labrum, particularly when she tried to flex her hip," Matthew L. Hansen, M.D., an orthopedic sports medicine specialist at The Core Institute, said.

Surgical repair used to mean a large 8-inch incision, even dislocating the hip. The latest arthroscopic technology allows surgeons to trim bone and repair labral tears through a few one-centimeter incisions. Depending on the patient, recovery time varies from four to 12 months. Bouncing back from traditional hip surgery can take up to 18 months.

"So this is a tremendous breakthrough from a patient’s perspective because the recovery is so much quicker," Dr. Hansen said.

And get this, Meghan was on a stationary bike just hours after surgery, and walking on crutches the same day. Now, she’s pedaling fast toward a full recovery.

"I could do cartwheels. I’m so thrilled!" Meghan said.

This procedure isn’t just for adults, doctors perform hip arthroscopy on patients in their teens and younger. It’s covered by insurance, and generally gives patients permanent relief from their pain. MORE

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If this story or any other Ivanhoe story has impacted your life or prompted you or someone you know to seek or change treatments, please let us know by contacting Andrew Mcintosh at amcintosh@ivanhoe.com