As with all surgical and conservative treatments, complications may occur after arthroscopic hip surgery.
Probably the most common, but rarely reported, complications are damage to the joint cartilage or labrum caused inadvertently by the surgeon during the operation. These injuries are more common when the surgery is performed by inexperienced or poorly trained surgeons
After surgery there may be a period of time where there is some numbness or weakness in the foot, or numbness in the groin and genitalia. This is due to pressure on the nerves which occurs due to the traction applied during surgery. It is more common if the surgery time is longer. Using our methods we, we have found that some degree of numbness occurs in approximately 2% of patients. It generally disappears by next day, but may occasionally take up to 3-4 weeks to resolve. Rarely it may take up to 6 weeks. We have never seen a case which did not fully resolve.
Infection is extremely rare after arthroscopic hip surgery, and is said to occur in only around 1 in 10,000 operations.
Blood clots in the legs (DVT) or lungs (Pulmonary Emboli) occur in only 8 in every 10,000 operations.
Other complications have been reported, but we have never experienced them. These include hip dislocation, hip fracture, and compartment syndromes.
At HAA we take great care to minimise the risk of complications.
Of course, there is always a risk that the surgery will not be successful. Please feel free to discuss these risks with your surgeon.
Everyone is slightly different in their response to the surgery. The majority feel good enough to walk the next day, with crutches for support. Where bone is removed, it is a good idea to only put a small amount of weight on the leg, and use crutches while it is still painful.
It is normal to feel some discomfort and perhaps some swelling in the groin, thigh, lower back and buttock regions. Occasionally patients have some numbness or tingling in the foot, leg, groin, or genitalia, which resolves.
Yes. It is normal for the wounds to ooze some fluid.
You shouldn’t drive in the first 48 hours after an anaesthetic. It is reasonable to drive when you have good movement and can walk and put weight on the leg.
This varies considerably with type of work, and details of procedure. Some return after a week or so, others take longer. Generally, the majority of patients are back to office-type work within 2 weeks.
The cuts are healed between 7 and 14 days. The sutures are dissolvable and are checked at followup. Most patients improve dramatically in the first 6 weeks and continue to get better over the next year. This is heavily dependent on the amount of damage to the lining of the hip, or arthritis found at the time of surgery. It is not unusual to have times where the hip becomes quite sore and then settles again. This is part of the normal healing process.
At HAA we recommend that you should see a Physiotherapist who is familiar with our Rehabilitation protocols. These have been shown to lead to faster and better recovery. We generally recommend that you start Physiotherapy around 7-10 days after surgery.