Hip Arthroscopy: Labral Debridement (clean up)

You will receive your pain medication prescription before you leave the surgery center.  Please take your prescription pain medication for the first 24 hours as directed.  After the first day or two, as the pain lessens, you may decrease the frequency with which you take the medication. Remember, the medications are not necessarily meant to completely eliminate your pain, only to make it more bearable. 

Narcotic pain medications can cause constipation; I recommend using Senokot-S, an over-the-counter stool softener, 1 tab twice a day to help prevent this.  You can increase to 2 tabs twice a day as needed.  In addition Miralax or Milk of Magnesia can be used if no results with the Senokot-S.

If you are having minimal pain and would like to switch to a milder medication, please take Tylenol/acetaminophen (extra strength or regular). Do not take Tylenol and norco together (this would be too much acetaminophen). Do not exceed more than 4000mg of Tylenol/acetaminophen in a 24 hour period.

Use ice as much as possible for the first 48 hours, then it is recommended to ice 3-5 times/day for 20 minutes each time for 1-2 more weeks.

You will have a soft dressing applied over your incisions. It is meant to absorb any leaking blood or fluid from the joint, and to protect from infection. Leakage immediately after surgery is normal and actually helps to drain some of the fluid that accumulates in the joint during surgery. The dressings may become moist or blood-stained; this is normal and usually not a cause for alarm.

You may remove your dressing 2 days after your surgery to take a shower. Under the surgical dressing you will have absorbable sutures underneath steri-strips (white strips) closing your incisions. Please leave the steri strips in place until they fall off on their own or until they are removed at your first post-op appointment. You may let soap and water gently wash over your incisions, but do not scrub them. Pat them dry with a towel, then recover each of the incisions with a band-aid if desired.

You may not soak your shoulder in a bathtub or go into a pool or hot tub until incisions are well healed (usually takes a few weeks).

Therapy typically starts within 1 week after surgery. The timing for when you begin physical therapy will be individualized based on your surgery.

You will be given crutches for comfort. You may put full weight on the operative hip immediately after surgery. Since no repair of the labrum was performed, you have no weight bearing or motion restrictions.

Your first post-op visit will be scheduled 7-10 days after surgery. At this visit, we’ll check your incisions and answer any questions you may have.

Please call our office at (630)584-1400 if you develop a fever greater than 101°F, increasing pain that is not responding to pain medication, redness around incisions, increased swelling, persistent bleeding or drainage, or drainage other than clear fluid or blood. You might experience mild numbness or tingling into your legs within the first few days after surgery. This is from traction placed on the legs/hip during surgery and will dissipate with time. You should call our office if you experience worsening of the numbness or increased cold sensation into your feet.

Although the risk is very low, there is a small chance of developing blood clots into the leg after a surgery. A blood clot in the leg is called a DVT or deep vein thrombosis. Some patients will be asked to take a 325mg aspirin daily for 1 month after surgery to prevent blood clots.  Some patients at higher risk of blood clots will require another form of anticoagulation such as lovenox injections, xarelto or coumadin pills..  Those at higher risk include patients who have had prior DVT or have clotting disorders. We will advise you on an individual basis if you need to take a medication. Signs of a blood clot could include calf pain and leg swelling.  If you develop calf pain and/or painful swelling to either leg, please call our office immediately or go to the emergency room.

If you had a right hip surgery, you should not drive for 1-2 weeks post-op. This is for your safety, as well as other drivers. Secondly, you should not drive while taking any narcotic pain medications. If you had a left hip surgery, you may drive once you are done taking the pain medication.

Since you had a labral debridment/cartilage clean-up, you can move your hip as tolerated.

This depends on the nature of your job. If you have a desk job or can work from home, you may be able to do computer/phone work within 1 week of surgery. If you have a labor-intense job, or job that requires heavy lifting/repetitive bending, you may need to be off work for months. Some employers allow light-duty, and we can give you work restriction notes at each post operative visit if necessary.

It’s ok to return to school once pain is tolerable and can be managed during school hours without narcotic pain medications.  Typically your surgery will be on Thursday and you should be able to return to school at some point the following week.

Dr. Sostak Hip Arthroscopy Labral Debridement