October 4, 2002 I had a right hip hemiarthroplasty due to a 14'fall on a construction job. They first tried to repair the fracture with a plate, but 45 days later a x-ray showed that the ball was not getting blood and was shrinking. So, they installed a stem in my leg but didn't put in a cup. It has been 7 months now and I have developed bursitis.Doesn't it seem odd to not install a cup along with the stem? My leg is constantly in pain and or going lame. Thank you.

-- Michael Bell (mikebell16@cox.net), April 22, 2003

Answers

It sounds as if you had a hemi-arthroplasty as treatment for your fractured hip. The femoral head probably died because the blood supply was interupted by the fracture.

It is common practice to do a hemiarthroplasty for a femoral neck fracture.

Errol L Bennett, MD

-- Errol L. Bennett, M.D. (ebennet6@jhmi.edu), April 25, 2003.

You should check out this website: http://www.niams.nih.gov/hi/topics/hip/hiprepqa.htm

-- Robert Toussie (Robert Toussie @aol.com), March 15, 2004.