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JOINT HORIZONS Mount Stuart Hospital
St Vincent's Road Torquay
Devon
TQ1 4UP

T: 01803 326688
F: 01803 322006

Hip Arthroscopy

When should I consider Surgery?

This key hole surgery of the hip joint is used in treatment of certain hip conditions and in diagnosis, where previous tests failed to diagnose the cause of pain.

Common symptoms linked to the inside of the hip are groin pain, clicking, locking, catching or stiffness. These may come on slowly but are more often associated with an injury.

What happens at surgery?

The surgery is performed as a day case under a general anaesthetic.
2 to 4 small cuts are made on the side of the hip. A telescope is put into the hip to perform the surgery. It is necessary to pull on the leg (traction) in order to create space inside the hip to place the telescope. This traction has rarely been reported as causing numbness in the groin or thigh. But in those few cases it always resolved rapidly.

Surgery can remove loose bodies, deal with damaged parts of the joint, re-grow cartilage (by microfracture) and treat aspects of femoro-acetabular impingement.

What happens after surgery?

After surgery the hip may be sore. You should take simple pain killers and use crutches for a day or two. The physiotherapist will advise on post operative exercises. You should avoid impact and twisting exercises until clinic review at 6 weeks.

Hip arthroscopy is best for:

• Patients who are active & cannot participate in sport or activity because of symptoms
• Patients with pain or mechanical catching symptoms – usually due to a recent injury
• Sorting out undiagnosed hip pain

Hip arthroscopy is reasonable for:

• Patients wishing to delay hip replacement surgery by a year or so
• Patients with femoro-acetabular impingement who do not want the full open operation

Hip arthroscopy is not good for

• Patients with advanced arthritis

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