In The Days Before Hip Replacement Operations What Was The Treatment For People Who Could Have Used One?

[sandyRoe]

?

[ladyalex]

painkillers

[Sqad]

It was an operation that cut through the femur, just below the trochanter. And the bone was the re- aligned. The operation was known as a subtrochanteric osteotomy.
Then came the founder of hip replacements, Sir John Charnley who revolutionised the surgical treatment of Osteo Arthritis of the hip
He did his work at Wrightington Hospital just outside Wigan

[woofgang]

There was also a procedure called a "Girdlestone's" which, if successful, fused the femur with the acetabulum resulting in a stiff and straight but pain free and stable hip joint..except it wasn't a joint any more!. If it didn't succeed then the patient was left with an unstable but hopefully pain free joint and needed to wear a brace which clasped around the outside of the hip joint and held it together.

When I first started work I used to have to tech folk who had had Girdlestone's procedures to dress their lower half including shoes...no fun at all for them. Actual hip replacements were a revelation.

[woofgang]

not tech, teach!

[Sqad]

Woofy, you are correct.....all procedures in that era were known as Girdlestone.s operation. Your description was more scientific than my simple analogy.

[murraymints]

Ouch ouch ouch...!!!!

[woofgang]

ouch indeed Murray, and that was before the days of sophisticated pain relief too.
Sqad when i think back to the operations they used to do, it was like the dark ages.

[Sqad]

woofy.....LOL

Despite all the new prosthesis, in Birmingham and other leading centres, in my opinion, the Charnley Low Friction Prosthesis is still the best.

[murraymints]

Woody are you a medic ? You sound very knowledgeable !

[woofgang]

Retired Occupational Therapist :)...Its why i am dubious about joint surgery...I used to see it when it went wrong lol

[woofgang]

Sqad, i don't know if its still the case but new orthoses and procedures used to be able to be done on "real people" without doing any kind of comparison with the best that was available. There was a spate in the late 80's IIRC where there were a lot of recalls and revisions. The orthopod I was working with then said if he had anything it would be the Charnley.

[Sqad]

woofy I agree and the other thing was that in the 80's, NHS Orthopaedic surgeons were given "back handers" by companies to use there prosthesis and in many cases they were a disaster for the patient.

Both surgeons, mates of mine, trained by Charnley, did my hips....the first has lasted 28 years and the opposite hip 30 years and still no trouble.

[Wak]

So you might say "Hip, Hip, Hooray", eh, Squad?? :- ))

[Sqad]

Wak...;-)

[sandyRoe]

If no action was taken would the sufferer eventually be unable to walk because of the pain from their damaged hip?