Hip Arthroscopy side effects

[nspider]

My partner had a hip arthroscopy 2 weeks ago. One unpleasant side effect is complete numbness in the penis. The surgeon told us this happens occassionally and to come back in 4 weeks. As you can understand, this is very concerning to us. Has anyone had similar side-effects after this procedure?

[focus_911]

I don't believe this is an appropriate issue to post online and would strongly recommend taking the concern to your family physician.

[shellthemermaid]

Hi nspider, you poor things what a worrying time for you both the unknown is the biggest thing when going through this surgery. Unfortunately I havent had my arthoscopy yet (Nov 2nd is my date) and I am a female so I can't give you any answers but hearing other peoples stories of bladder/urinating and other problems there seems to be maybe nerve problems/numbness that can happen in the initial recovery stages. I hope that this is only a temporary thing and that your OS has some more answers for you.

[shellthemermaid]

Hi nspider me again after reading your post again I started to wonder what else could possibly go wrong with arthoscopies so decided to google it and this article I found very good http://www.jbjs.org.uk/cgi/reprint/81-B/4/604.pdf specifically the amount of pudendal nerve damage (wikipedia that nerve, it all begins to make alot of sense). The very good thing about side effects of this surgery is that they all seem to be short lasting
Most doctors do not like to tell us all the aspects of our surgery as knowlege is sometimes not on our side if you know what I mean, and can put us off having a simple preceedure done. I hope this helps. Im glad you posted as there are many people out there too scared to talk about things that really we should all know about . Shell

[Surfchick]

Hi

I agree, this is quite a sensitive and personal issue - but is does happen. Who else do you contact in the night when you are worried?

I am female - so its different obviously. June 2006 I had my 1st hip scope. I recall feeling bruised and numb at the top of my thigh/groin and the "female bits" - but no bleeding or tearing!!

I never mentioned it to the surgeon as I was too embarrased and didn't want him looking!! I think it went after 4 - 6 weeks on its own. Lets hope this will be the same with a male.

My second scope was April 2007 - I asked for loads of padding to protect my bits! I don't know what they used - but I had no problems this time.

To apply the traction they put the foot in a type of boot and they use a "perinial post" which as I understand presses on the inner thigh - padding is used to protect the genitalia!

Hope that helps a little. Any concerns - the surgeon is the main port of call!

Surfchick

[soccermom]

I was way numb for several weeks...but it went away all by itself. i am taking surfchicks advice in 2 weeks when i have this done again. i am asking for more protection!!
soccermom

[nspider]

To focus_911: just so you know we did take our concerns to our GP, however were given very little information except that it will 'go away'. Whether it is appropriate to post online or not, well, that is subject to opinion. My motivation was to gain some reassurance for myself and my partner perhaps through the experience of others. Given that my research came up with nothing regarding such side effects, given that he is being treated through the public health system and is unable to pay for a second opinion, and given that we were not told of such side effects prior to surgery I felt it was most appropriate.

To shell, surfchick & soccermom: thanks so much for your responses. I did read the article mentioned by shell and showed it to my partner. I think he was reassured that in all the cases the paralysis was temporary. If we had been told about this prior to the operation we wouldn't have been quite so concerned. I was thinking they had accidently cut a nerve or something!! Good luck with your future ops.

[Paul J Sherman]

I am a 49 year old male and just had arthroscopic hip surgery 4 weeks ago. I still have numbness in my penis, especially near the head. I have one of the top doctors in Chicago and he has told me that he has only seen one other case in his career were it took almost 6 weeks for the nerve damage to repair itself. The cause seems to be heavy compression near the prostate area, but reassures me that feeling will come back. The rate seems to be 1mm per day.

[Denny Gundahar]

Hi,

New techniques in minimally invasive surgery are allowing doctors to treat problems with less disruption to a patient's life. Among these innovations is the ability to treat some hip problems with arthroscopic surgery. In this procedure, the hip is seen through a camera inserted through a small incision. Other tiny incisions are used to place small instruments inside the hip to perform the procedure. While only some problems can be treated through arthroscopic hip surgery, the procedure is becoming more popular..

[sueyorkshire]

My daughter had numbness in her leg after her scope, she was unable to move her leg for 2-3 weeks without using her hand to lift it up. it seems to me the numbness happens to people in different places, we too were never warned about this, and as I had an arthroscopy and hadn't had the numbness we were not expecting it. Hope things are ok now Nspider and glad you posted it is helpful to other people who experience different side effects.