Category Archives: Treatments

What is AVN or Avascular Necrosis?

Cellular death in the hip area has nothing to do with your mobile phone, but it does have everything to do with mobility. An interruption of the blood supply to bone components, particularly the shoulders, knees and hips, is what causes cellular death. Bone is alive, but without blood tissue it dies.

And ultimately, this leads the bone to collapse. This disease is known medically as Avascular Necrosis (AVN), and has aliases the include osteonecrosis, bone infarction, aseptic necrosis or ischemic bone necrosis.

AVN is not life-threatening, but it is debilitating. If it isn’t treated, AVN can cause the bone to collapse. AVN most often affects your hip. Anyone can be affected, but the condition is most common in people between the ages of 30 and 50.

SEE ALSO: SYMPTOMS & RSIK FACTORS OF AVN

Stages of AVN

Avascular necrosis develops in stages. It may take several months or even over a year for the disease to progress; therefore, it is important to diagnose AVN early. Early treatment is directly linked to better outcomes. The stages of AVN are:

Stage 1: Primarily hip pain. X-rays may show the beginning of necrosis.
This stage is characterized by sclerosis of the superior central portion of the joint head and/or osteopenia and/or subchondral cysts.

Stage 2: Bone death can be seen on x-ray but the femoral ball is intact.
In this stage, the articular surface is depressed so that the round contour is compromised, without being significantly deformed. This leads to a joint space narrowing.

Stage 3: Shows bone death with collapse on x-ray, also shows signs of cartilage damage and osteoarthritis.
This stage is characterized by a wide collapse of the subchondral bone and destruction if the underlying trabecular pattern. This can lead to secondary arthritis.

Stage 4: Shows collapse of the femoral head with severe osteoarthritis.
The final stage where both articular surfaces are affected, which leads to a dysfunctional joint.

Avascular necrosis treatment

There are several good options for treating AVN, depending on the patient’s health, age, level of activity, condition of the bone and pre-existing health conditions.

Non-surgical treatment of AVN includes: medications and therapy like rest, exercises and electrical stimulation.

If you catch avascular necrosis early, treatment may involve taking medications to relieve pain or limiting the use of the affected area. Because most people don’t develop symptoms until avascular necrosis is advanced, your health care provider might recommend surgery. Surgical treatment of AVN includes:

• Core decompression
• Bone transplant (graft)
• Bone reshaping (osteotomy)
• Joint replacement
• Regenerative medicine treatment

When avascular necrosis of the hip is diagnosed at the onset stage, core depression can sometimes successfully prevent the collapse of the femoral head. Treatment goals for AVN are to improve the joint, stop the bone damage, and ease pain.

What is shoulder arthroscopy?

Shoulder arthroscopy is a surgical procedure used to visualize, diagnose, and treat various problems inside the shoulder joint and in the space surrounding the rotator cuff. This is done through small incisions that allow the insertion of specialized instruments.

Arthroscopic shoulder surgery is used to treat a variety of common shoulder problems, including bursitis, tendonitis, arthritis, impingement, rotator cuff tears, labral tears and shoulder instability.

Reasons your shoulder is in pain

If you met with an accident and hurt your shoulder, you probably know why your shoulder hurts. But if you are like many people who are experience unexplained shoulder pain. Your shoulder is pretty resilient but with the growing pain and you overdo tasks like – throw, lift, twist and reach, it could end up with injuries like:

• Labral tears
• Shoulder impingement
• Frozen shoulder
• Rotator cuff injury
• Dislocation

What are the benefits of arthroscopic shoulder surgery?

You may have shoulder arthroscopy instead of open surgery (with a larger incision), depending on your specific concern. Compared to open surgeries, arthroscopic surgeries have less risk of infection and a shorter recovery time. Shoulder arthroscopy also tends to cause less joint stiffness and pain than open surgeries.

More reasons to choose shoulder arthroscopic surgery:

• Less tissue damages
• Reduced pain
• Lower chance of infection
• Less blood loss
• Faster recovery time

FAQ by Patients: When can I go back to work/school/drive/eat?

When you can return to your everyday life depends on the complexity of your surgery. If you’ve had a minor procedure, you may be able to return to work or school in a few days. You’ll need longer to recover from more major procedures. Your orthopedic surgeon will give guidance suitable for your recovery.

Looking for a shoulder arthroscopy surgery in Ahmedabad?

Dr. Rachit Sheth is a Consultant Orthopedic Surgeon in Ahmedabad, specializing in knee and shoulder arthroscopy surgeries.
For more information on: shoulder arthroscopic surgery or you can contact us.

Credits
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Overview

Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) is tissue that connects the thighbone to the shinbone, at the knee. An ACL injury is a tear or sprain of the anterior cruciate – one of the most common ways people hurt their knees. This is one of the bands of tissue that holds the bones together within your knee. It also helps to keep your knee stable.

It’s often painful, and can make it hard to walk or put pressure on the injured leg.

How does it happen?

ACL injuries often happen during sports and fitness activities that can put stress on the knee. Most ACL injuries occur during certain sports such as basketball, football, skiing and tennis when they stop and quickly change directions while they’re running.

Causes includes:

• stopping suddenly
• receiving a direct blow to the knee or having collision
• landing awkwardly from a jump
• suddenly slowing down or changing direction (cutting)

ACL risk factors
There are a number of factors that increase your risk of an ACL injury, that includes:

• Being female – possibly due to differences in anatomy and muscle strength
• Sports like soccer, basketball, gymnastics, etc.
• Using faulty patterns of movements in the sports
• Wearing footwear that doesn’t fit properly
• Using poorly maintained sports equipment

ACL symptoms

Many people hear a popping noise in their knee when they get hurt. But it doesn’t happen to everyone. More common symptoms include:

• Severe pain and inability to continue activity
• Rapid swelling
• Loss of range of motion
• A feeling of instability with weight bearing

ACL diagnosis

Your orthopedic doctor will check your knee swelling and will check both knees to see if the sore one looks different. You may also need some tests to rule out other causes of the ACL injury and to determine the severity of the injury. These tests may include:

• X-rays
• Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
• Ultrasound (to check for injuries in the ligaments, tendons and muscles of the knee)
• Arthroscopy (Your doctor can see what type of injury you have and repair or correct it, if needed)

ACL injury treatment

Treatment of ACL injury depends on how badly you have been hurt. Some of the treatment options your orthopedic surgeon may recommend include:

Basic first aid
If you have minor injury, you may only need to put ice on your knee, elevate your leg or wrap an elastic bandage around your knee.

Medications
Your may be prescribed with over-the-counter medications to reduce swelling or pain.

Knee brace
Wearing brace on the knee when you play sports as it provides extra support.

Physical therapy
To get your knee back in working order.

ACL Surgery
If your ACL is torn badly, your orthopedic surgeon may recommend a surgery that removes the damaged ligament and replaces it with a segment of tendon. This surgery is called ACL reconstruction.

Looking for and ACL injury treatment or ACL reconstruction surgery in Ahmedabad? Drop us a message or call for an appointment.