The Surgery was a success, but..... - Pain Concern

Pain Concern

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The Surgery was a success, but.....

398emb profile image
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I went into hospital in January for my second hip replacement. The surgery went like a dream, and I was walking later that afternoon, and ready for home in another 2 days, like a spring lamb! * days later, however, the dressing over my wound became somewhat distended, and eventually, while awaiting a district nurse, it burst, and a lot of fluid and blood flooded out. A trip to A&E led to my admission to hospital (not the one that did the surgery!) where my leg was observed for 2 days, then redressed, and I was sent home. Two days later, a repeat performance led to my leg being redressed, this time in A&E, and my being sent home. A week later, when it happened again, I talked a doctor into insisting that I was taken to the hospital where the surgery had taken place - thankfully. Tests showed that I had developed a e-coli infection in the wound, and I was admitted and placed on IV antibiotics. After a couple of weeks I had a debridement, and although it helped for a while, the fluid escape started up again. Another debridement was planned, but it was found that the stem an head of the hip were now infected, so they were removed, along with the cement, and I was left with a plastic "spacer" - a plastic hip which leaks antibiotics into the wound, but which isn't as sturdy as a metal hip. After 6 weeks, I was allowed to return home, with daily visits from the District Nurses to set up the drips, and frequent checks at the hospital - I think that they would have preferred me to stay in, but I was starting to feel depressed.

I'm not really sure what the future will bring if the antibiotics fail. I have been told airily that they will just remove everything artificial in the area, leaving me with no hip for a while, but I'm not sure what that will imply for my movement and pain levels. Has anyone else had an infection like this?

(P.S. It turns out that I had a non-symptomatic e-coli bladder infection, and the e-coli probably migrated via my bloodstream. I had a lot of cases of cystitis last year, and had a number of different antibiotics to deal with it. The e-coli is resistant to a lot of antibiotics, presumably as a result of this! Not the fault of the Surgeons, but I wish it had been diagnosed, and treatment started, earlier!)

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398emb
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I hope it gets sorted out for you and you can get back to a normal life

It must have been a big disappointment when it went wrong.

Best of luck to you.

Bloody hell...... don't know what to say...

I hope everything starts to improve for you.

Steve.

398emb profile image
398emb in reply to Steve_inpaintoolong

It's just one of those things that we sign up for when we decide to go for surgery, isn't it! They warn us that we might get an infection, and we sign that we understand the risk. We just hope that it won't happen to us! It's like the medication we take - it has side effects, but they won't be serious, and they won't ever happen to us, will they?!

Not everything in life is 100% safe, surgery and medication included. It is incumbent on us all to read the small print, and consider what we sign. I had weighed up the risks, and was aware that, if I did not have the surgery, I would be in a wheelchair soon anyway, so I went ahead with the surgery, knowing that the surgeon was as good as they come. It was just bad luck that this happened, but it's bad luck that could happen to any of us. It was just my turn.

Has anyone else had to have the hip removed completely, and how long was it before a re-replacement could be attempted, if at all? This sort of thing must be rare, but not unprecedented!

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