Arthroscopic Hip Surgery

The Best Orthopedic Hip Surgeon Near You

Specializing in Arthroscopic Hip Surgery

The hip joint is susceptible to many musculoskeletal injuries, which include arthritis, dislocation, impingement, labral tears, and damage to the surrounding muscles, tendons and ligaments.

Symptoms of a hip injury may include:

• Pain while walking or pivoting
• Pain at night
• Decreased mobility or flexibility
• Catching, popping or grinding of the joint

Injuries to the hip may result from acute trauma, such as a fall or motor vehicle accident, or chronic wear and tear. Diagnosis will include a comprehensive physical examination to determine range of motion, stability and pain, as well as an X-ray, MR arthrogram to determine the nature of the injury and an intra-articular injection.

Some other conditions include:

• Hip impingement or femoroacetabular impingement (FAI): Encompasses conditions of the hip in which the shape of your hip bones do not permit normal movement of the hip and may cause pain. Abnormal bone shape can be on the femur (CAM impingement), on the rim of the acetabulum (Pincer impingement), or both. The rubbing of the bones in an abnormal fashion can cause pain and lead to damage of other structures in the hip, including the cartilage and acetabular labrum.
• Labral tear: The fibrous cartilage lining of the acetabulum (socket), the labrum, may be torn through various mechanisms including impingement and trauma. Many individuals have labral tears, and labral tears may or may not cause an individual to experience symptoms in their groin and hip. The injection you have or may get into your hip helps determine if the labral tear is contributing to your hip pain. Some symptoms of labral tears are locking, catching, and/or pain in the groin.
• Loose bodies: A loose body is one or multiple pieces of tissue or bone that have fragmented from their normal position in the joint and are no longer attached properly. These fragments become free to move about the joint and may damage normal tissue and cause pain and/or a catching sensation. These fragments can result from trauma, such as a fall, motor vehicle accident, or sport injury.
• Hip cartilage injuries: The surface of the head of the femur and corresponding surface on the acetabulum are lined by a surface known as articular cartilage. This surface allows smooth motion within the hip joint and can be found in various other joints including the shoulder, knee, and ankle. The concern about articular cartilage injury lies in the lack of potential for this type of cartilage to regenerate and heal when significantly damaged. Patients that sustain trauma to the hip joint and/or have chronic impingement may damage this cartilage. Usually, the cartilage begins degeneration by undergoing softening. When associated with impingement, the second stage of cartilage injury usually involves the detachment of the cartilage from the underlying bone. This can be thought of as a bubble of cartilage. The next stage of cartilage injury is generally detachment of the bubble to the point where it becomes a cartilage flap. This cartilage flap will not heal back to the bone on its own. Untreated flaps encourage further cartilage degeneration and the progression of osteoarthritis within the hip joint. 

For some patients, hip arthroscopy surgery will be necessary to treat their condition, find long-term pain relief, and achieve their full recovery goals. Arthroscopic hip surgery involves making 2 or 3 small incisions around your hip and looking inside the joint with a camera that is around the same diameter as a pencil. While the camera is inserted in one small incision, the other incision(s) will be used to place various instruments in the joint in order to treat the cause of your hip discomfort.