My wife had a revision on her left hip repalcement after the joint started to break down. Two years later, she is feeling a dull pain about two inches above her knee, circular. This area is around the point were the rod ends on the replacement in her femur. What could be causing this pain? The last time the hip failed the pain was at the joint, not down at the end of the rod. She is scheduled to see her doctor in two weeks.

-- Robert F. Seiss (rob.seiss@benjaminmoore.com), April 19, 2004

Answers

I experienced this type of pain a year or so after THP and was told it was due to uneven weight distribution on the joint. An xray revealed bone loading around the rod where the rod ended near the knee. My surgeon said I could either leave it alone or he could go back in and do a bone graft around the entire rod and wrap it with stainless steel cable to stabilize it. I opted to leave it alone and after 2 years my body has done what the bone graft would have done.... I have bone loading up the entire rod and now am without pain. In this case, my patience was worth it but I can appreciate the frustration your wife must be going through. Good luck.

-- Sonja Bates (batess@us.ibm.com), April 23, 2004.