One of the latest questions and answers series on “Femoral head necrosis”

  1. The diagnosis of having femoral head necrosis after taking a film, but no one and no feeling, does not affect life and does not require treatment.  Femoral head necrosis is due to damage to the branch vessels of the spinomedial femoral artery that supply blood flow within the femoral head, and its supply of blood flow to the femoral head is interrupted, resulting in the death of bone cells and bone marrow components. After femoral head necrosis, there is a natural pathological repair process, and there will be two endings: first, the femoral head does not collapse, maintaining a round femoral head, and the function of the hip joint is not damaged, so it can be a normal joint; second, the femoral head collapses, the femoral head flattens, and the function of the hip joint is damaged, causing pain and impaired movement, and eventually an artificial joint replacement is needed. Therefore, the purpose of treating femoral head necrosis is to prevent the femoral head from collapsing and to preserve the normal function of the hip joint, and the earlier the treatment, the better the effect. Early stage osteonecrosis of the femoral head can be asymptomatic and the patient does not “feel” anything, but it should be treated appropriately at this time. If delayed, when the “feeling” or pain symptoms appear, or even the range of motion of the hip joint is limited, indicating the progress or aggravation of the disease.  2, pain is the main symptom of femoral head necrosis, so as long as the drug treatment to relieve the symptoms will prove that in the recovery of the improvement, do not need to continue treatment.  There are two main reasons for the “pain” symptoms of femoral head necrosis: 1. increased pressure on the bone in the femoral head; 2. collapse of the femoral head, uneven joint surface, synovitis of the hip joint and joint effusion. Taking medication for pain can relieve the “pain” symptoms, but will not stop the natural progression of femoral head necrosis; in addition, the collapse of the femoral head will reduce the pressure of the bone in the femoral head, which will also relieve the pain. Therefore, even if the “pain” symptoms are reduced, but does not prove that the recovery has improved, should continue treatment to promote the repair of bone in the necrotic area of the femoral head, to prevent the femoral head collapse.  3, the femoral head necrosis to strive for artificial joint replacement as soon as possible, to avoid pain.  This statement is wrong. Femoral head necrosis has its natural course, not all femoral head necrosis will collapse, whether collapse depends on the site and size of the femoral head necrosis, and other influencing factors. Only when the head of the femur collapses and the hip joint becomes painful and restricted, which seriously affects the patient’s work and quality of life, arthroplasty should be considered in order to restore the function of the hip joint. Because the artificial joint has its service life after all, a variety of methods to preserve the femoral head treatment can avoid and delay the artificial joint replacement.  4, the femoral head necrosis is cured after surgery, no other treatment is needed.  The purpose of taking preservation of femoral head treatment is: 1. to promote the repair of bone in the area of femoral head necrosis, so that the area of femoral head necrosis has mechanical mechanical support; 2. to provide mechanical mechanical support for the area of femoral head necrosis (such as: tantalum rod or allograft fibula, etc.); to prevent the femoral head from collapsing and to maintain normal hip function. Other adjuvant therapies should also be used after surgery, such as: taking drugs to promote bone growth and improve local blood circulation within the femoral head, additional drugs to protect the articular cartilage, appropriate periods of weight-free and protected weight-bearing on the lower limbs, and regular imaging review.  5. Traditional Chinese medicine such as cupping and acupuncture can be used instead of Western medicine for the treatment of femoral head necrosis.  Traditional Chinese medicine cupping and acupuncture can only relieve the local symptoms of the hip joint, such as pain relief and improvement of the range of motion of the hip joint. They cannot promote the repair of bone in the femoral head and provide effective mechanical support for the necrotic femoral head. Experiments and clinical applications have proved that western medicine can improve the blood circulation in the necrotic area of the femoral head and promote the growth and repair of bone, which is irreplaceable by cupping, acupuncture and other treatments.  6, artificial joint replacement can only be replaced once, so try to perform replacement surgery when you have to replace it to prolong the life of the artificial joint.  Modern hip artificial joint replacement technology and materials make the artificial hip joint life extended to more than 30 years, advanced prosthetic materials and manufacturing process can make the artificial joint prosthesis and host bone firmly combined as one. The main reason affecting the service life of the artificial joint prosthesis is the wear of the joint surface. The body reaction from the wear particles damages the solid bonding surface of the prosthesis and the host bone, and loosening and osteolysis occur. X-rays should be reviewed annually after the artificial joint replacement, and if wear problems of the joint surface occur, close observation or timely replacement of the wear surface of the artificial hip prosthesis, such as: the femoral head prosthesis and the lining of the acetabular cup, can be taken. Even if serious problems occur, such as loosening of the prosthesis and osteolysis and defects, a specially designed revision prosthesis can be used to replace it, and the same satisfactory results can be obtained. With nearly 40 years of history of artificial joint replacement abroad, it is common to see patients who have had their artificial joints revised 4 to 5 times and still retain a more normal hip function. Of course, the time of joint replacement should be delayed as much as possible, and joint replacement should only be considered when severe hip pain and activity limitation occur after femoral head collapse, which seriously affects the patient’s work and quality of life and urgently needs to restore the function of the hip joint.