What To Expect With Hip Arthroscopy

In this video, Dr. Nwachukwu discusses what to expect after hip arthroscopy.

Hip arthroscopy is an outpatient procedure where patients come in and go home on the same day. Dr. Nwachukwu will typically have patients take off their dressings 48-72 hours after surgery, at which time, they can begin physical therapy.

He will see patients back for the two week visit. During that visit, he will typically take out the sutures and will get an x-ray of the hip to evaluate the work that was done at the time of surgery. Patients will transition off of crutches at around 2-4 weeks after surgery. Patients can then come out of their brace once they are off of their crutches.

In the first six weeks of physical therapy, patients will work on their hip range of motion, ensuring that they have a smooth and painless hip range of motion. In the second six weeks, they will then work on the strengthening of the hip. After patients have achieved the milestone of having a strong and stable hip, they will then progress to agility type exercises and a running program.

After they have started this more advanced therapy, the goal is to progress to sports specific exercises with the goal of returning to the original pre-injury sport.

The earliest Dr. Nwachukwu will typically allow patients to get back to sport is the 6-month mark, and sometimes, it can take up until 1-year to be fully recovered to return to sport.