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You’ve been struggling with a painful hip for some time and managing the problem through conservative efforts — rest, physical therapy, and medications, mostly. While effective at first, these efforts are no longer doing the trick, and you’re left dealing with more pain and, perhaps worse, more difficulty getting around.
So, you’re looking for a more aggressive solution, but you’re none too thrilled about the idea of surgery or joint replacement.
The good news is that hip expert Dr. Brian White can meet you halfway with hip arthroscopy. Here at Western Orthopaedics, our team prides itself on providing advanced surgical techniques like hip arthroscopy, which have been a boon for the wide range of hip problems that can develop.
In the following, we explore a few hip conditions that Dr. White routinely addresses through minimally invasive arthroscopy. With this technique, Dr. White only makes small incisions through which he inserts specialized instruments, including a camera and tools, to do the work that was once performed with open surgery, which led to far more collateral damage.
This hip impingement is a major driver of hip pain and affects more than 54 people per 100,000, women more than men. With FAI, there’s extra bone growth in your acetabulum (socket) or on your femoral head. No matter where it’s located, this extra bone can grate inside your hip when you move and damage soft tissues within the joint.
Through hip arthroscopy, Dr. White removes the extra bony growths. If there’s any damage to the soft tissues, he can repair these tissues and remove any loose bodies at the same time.
About 1 in 10 total hip replacements are due to hip dysplasia, but our goal is to treat the condition before replacement is warranted. With hip dysplasia, your socket is too shallow, which can lead to damage in your labrum — the tough tissue that forms a seal around your hip socket.
Dr. White is a leading expert in labral reconstruction, which he often performs using minimally invasive surgical techniques.
While hip dysplasia is a leading driver of labral tears, they can occur for other reasons, such as repetitive stresses or an acute injury. As we outlined above, Dr. White is an expert in labral tears, so you’re in good hands.
If the tissues that line your hip joint have become inflamed, moving around can become difficult and painful. This condition is called synovitis. Through hip arthroscopy, we can remove the inflamed tissues and investigate what might be causing the problem.
If there’s damage in your hip due to injury, a congenital condition, or simple wear and tear, loose bodies can develop and interfere with the function of the joint. Hip arthroscopy really shines when it comes to loose bodies, as Dr. White can go in and quickly remove the fragments to restore smoother function.
There are other conditions that can benefit from hip arthroscopy, but we think the list above gives you a good idea of the versatility of this minimally invasive surgical approach. If you want to explore whether hip arthroscopy is right for you, please contact one of our offices in Arvada or Denver, Colorado, to schedule an appointment with Dr. White.
