Hip injuries & surgery

Acute injuries

The hip joint is a complex ball-and-socket joint. Acute injuries can affect either the bones and/or the soft tissues around the hip joint and most commonly are fractures, dislocations and muscle avulsions. Fractures and dislocations need urgent clinical and radiological assessment and treatment. Avulsion injuries generally affect the adductor or hamstring group of muscles and are usually treated using non-operative methods.

Chronic pain

In the majority of patients with groin pain, the symptoms are long standing. Causes of chronic groin pain are generally clinical conditions such as hip joint arthritis, hip impingement, shallow sockets (hip dysplasia) etc. A clinical and radiological assessment by the specialist is required to identify and treat these conditions and implement the appropriate treatment for good long-term results. The diagnosis and treatment of hip disorders has seen major developments in the last decade. Hip impingement, for instance, has been identified and diagnosis and treatment for the problem has revolutionised the hip subspecialty. Hip arthroscopic techniques continue to improve in line with advances in instrumentation. The successful diagnosis and treatment of shallow sockets (hip dysplasia) has improved results for patients and enabled them to lead a near normal life.

Total hip arthroplasty continues to be a successful procedure for quality of life improvement.

Hip resurfacing has enabled young patients to preserve their bone stock and maintain good levels of activity. Image below shows an xray of a hip resurfacing.