Girdlestone hip procedure

My mom is 47 years old. She was born with Congenital Hip Dislocation, and has been on crutches all her life. She was born with both her hips out of place (dislocated). The doctors all said that her case was one of the worst they had ever seen, which meant that they would not even attempt to do surgery. When she was nineteen, she finally found a doctor, that would do the surgery. The doctor had to turn part of her hips around, and put them in place. She almost died, of to much blood being lost. But thankfully she made it. The surgery helped the pain in her hips, but she still has to walk on crutches. Now she is 47 years old, and is facing another surgery. Her doctor said that she has developed avascular necrosis, which is causing bone death and loss. But this is worse with her because her bones were so little to begin with. The surgery is also very risky. Her doctor might need to do a complete hip replacement, or he said that he could do a girdlestone. My question is has anyone ever had a girdlestone procedure done, and was the outcome good. Also feel free to make any suggestions regarding her condition.

[fmp302]

So sorry to hear about your mom. I am looking at having the same procedure.  I have found one other person who has had the surgery. He is 35+ and is able to walk with out his hip.  He is doing well and has encouraged me to do the same procedure to help with my issues. Good luck to you all.

[Dr Vinod]

Hello!

Girdlestone hip procedure is also called resection arthroplasty of the hip.

It involves removing part of the ball or head of the femur or thigh bone, thereby allowing it to fuse with the socket of the hip bone in the straight leg position. She will be left with a stiff,  a pain free hip, and a straight leg which will not bend at the hip joint.

Complete hip replacement is a better option the surgeon will choose if he can.

All the best for your mom!

Take care!

[Adamp51]

Girdlestone does not involve fusion of the bones. That is a fused hip. Girdlestone removes the head and a capsule of scar tissue is allowed to form while patient is  in traction. The patient can weight bear after 8 weks and can walk with a stick after 2 months. I had this procedure done 11 years ago.

[gmwmson]

my 61 yo husband is being faced with this procedure b/c of a terrible hip fracture and destruction of the femoral ball as well as advanced bone metastasis in the pelvis. He is on crutches now. We are very scared of the finality of this surgery. Can you offer any encouragement? Thank you!

[miniblocks]

I had to have a gurdeldstone 2yrs ago and use 3/4 crutches. It's very frustrating but I'm able to do quite a but. I would like to get my hip back in but don't want to go through it all and get infections again. Has any one had it put back in and had a success? Would like to hear from you.  Thank you