Nerve Damage Causing Foot Drop after Total Hip Replacement

[Jassplayer]

physical therapy for foot drop

My Doctor did not mention any specific physical therapy. I did try electrical stimulation to no avail. Please tell me what type of therapy I should be seeking. Thank you. Jassplayer

 

[Jassplayer]

What state?

Hi, Just curious what state you are from? Have you had any return of muscle use in your foot? It is one and 3/4 year since my THR and I can now move my foot about a half an inch. I wonder if this is a good sign? I did not sue, as the few lawyers I emailed or called, did not respond. I guess they want bigger cases. I hate how it has changed my active life.

Just found this site while I was looking for something else and happened upon this forum. I was curious about this particular posting as I also suffer from foot drop due to a total hip replacement. Drugs are NOT the answer for the pain, physical therapy is. I was on lots of pain meds, neurontin, anti depressants and sleeping pills as my pain interupted my sleep most all of the time. It has been 4 years since my injury and the nerve damage has not healed. They do tell you in the beginning that it MAY heal on its own but such is not always the case. I did file a lawsuit and ended up with a settlement. The doctor's insurance company settled out of court. My lawyers were trying to show that there was a breach in the standard of care. The scaitic is a large nerve and it would be hard to not isolate it to prevent damage. I have learned alot through this whole ordeal and just wanted to share with others that until it happens to you, you have no idea what it is like. No amount of money can bring back what you have lost and the stress you go through.I just wanted to let people know that I wear a brace on my right leg that goes almost all the way up to my knee. I am able to drive with the use of an assistive foot pedal that allows me to drive with my left foot. I was able to get this through social security, so contact the local social security to find out if they have this available. I was offered the tendon transfer but my new ortho doctor just told me to keep wearing the brace and I am in no hurry to go under the knife again. The tendon surgery, from what I was told, just tightens the lower tendon in your leg so your foot will not move at all. Like in a pemanant L position. My right hip replacement was the only surgery I have ever had, and had I not had it I do believe that I would be much more crippled with my arthritis. There was nothing more they could do for my arthritic hip as it was bone against bone, so whoever the person was who said that if you could have controlled your arthritic pain you wouldn't be in the situation you are in really doesn't know what they are talking about. Just wanted you to know there are others out there who feel your pain, literaly. Keep the faith.

 

[talkinghorn]

I sincerely doubt that anything went wrong in the OR and I sincerely doubt you signed a consent to have surgery without having had the risk explained to you or without reading the consent which states that by signing you agree that you have received an explanation of the risks. Your signature is on the consent and you can not hold the MD responsible for not explaining the risks once you have signed an attestment that he did so. It doesn't work that way.

More likely than not, you are one of the patients who make up the 2% risk factor for foot drop. Risks are not the result of negligence; risks are just that--the chances you take.

If you had been willing to continue to manage arthritic pain, you wouldn't be in this fix; would you? Now you are considering another surgery? I strongly suggest you forego any additional surgery on the leg and let the nerves heal. Nerve transfer is risky; you may lose the ability to heal from the foot drop if you have this procedure. Then, you will surely have no chance of regaining normal use of your foot.

You have the chance to recover from foot drop if you will continue with physical therapy and if you will wear high topped tennis shoes.

As I initially stated, because you are concerned (which means not because I think you have any indication of negligence), consult with a medmal attorney in your area.


EC

Who this person?
Spinal stenoses is more like your problem. Because arthritis is in your spine too and high up is where they found it in my dad. It was maybe 3 or 4 months and he had foot drop then did a MRI. No high top tennis shoe gonna help thaat.

 

[smbclifton]

I have left foot drop from Multiple Sclerosis. there are braces made with a doctor's prescription that keep the toes up- mine is spring-loaded. they need to be worn with lace-up shoes, usually.

and pain meds for nerve pain are generally the drugs used for epilepsy-at some point someone figured out that the meds might help nerve pain, too. and they DO. I'd be suicidal if I didn't have relief from nerve pain.

I' can't comment on the legal aspect but I did want you to know that there is additional help for you. all the money in the world won't take your pain away-unless you are on the correct medication.

If you have lost confidence in your doctor please try to find one who will work with you on these issues. and the wooziness/dizziness with neurontin (or probably any drug in that class) almost always subsides over time. mine did very quickly.
hope this helps.

-sheila

 

[ecmst12]

Spinal stenoses is more like your problem. Because arthritis is in your spine too and high up is where they found it in my dad. It was maybe 3 or 4 months and he had foot drop then did a MRI. No high top tennis shoe gonna help thaat.

Foot drop can be caused by more then one thing you know, the sciatic nerve is big and goes from your spine down to your lower extremities so damage at other points in the nerve can result in foot drop (not just in the spine). If someone develops foot drop immediately after hip replacement surgery, it's a pretty safe bet that the cause was the surgery and not some problem in the back.

 

[talkinghorn]

Foot drop can be caused by more then one thing you know, the sciatic nerve is big and goes from your spine down to your lower extremities so damage at other points in the nerve can result in foot drop (not just in the spine). If someone develops foot drop immediately after hip replacement surgery, it's a pretty safe bet that the cause was the surgery and not some problem in the back.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=8194229&dopt=Abstract

 

[ecmst12]

Ok, from your link:

Twenty-one patients with spinal stenosis who developed foot drop after total hip arthroplasty were reviewed. Patients with other risk factors for nerve injury, such as dislocation, hematoma, intraoperative limb lengthening, revision surgery, and direct operative trauma, were excluded. Also excluded were patients without symptoms of spinal stenosis. Patients in this series had back and leg pain without weakness before their hip arthroplasty.

I didn't even read any further; not all patients who undergo THR have co-existing back problems and this study would not apply to them.

 

[ellencee]

Let's put this baby to rest...

(I can't get this post to delete!)

 

[ellencee]

Let's put this baby to rest...

This entire thread is a moot point. The statute of limitations for a medical malpractice claim in Kentucky is one year. The statute had run out long before the original poster submitted his/her initial inquiry. (Only an attorney in Kentucky who is familiar with the claim can make an absolute statement on the statute; but, I feel reasonably certain that this poster is SOL as well as having no viable claim of medmal.)

The OP suffered pain, which by the way, comes from nerves! irritated nerves!

The OP had a previous crushing injury to the now 'affected' area, which predisposed the OP to increased risks.

The OP presents himself/herself to be totally ignorant of any risks, yet communicates in a manner that shows at least an average IQ (of 100). The OP is not going to be able to convince a jury that he/she is too stupid to understand risks or to ask questions or to research a surgery before having the surgery.

ecmst12
The sciatic nerve does not cause pain where the OP is complaining of pain, which is the anterior thigh. Although the sciatic nerve does have some influence on plantar flexion, the more likely the nerve(s) damaged are the one that originate in the thigh and attach to the anterior tibia.

talkinghorn
Good grief. Your interjection of spinal stenosis is absolutely not relevant, as is just about every bit of advice you have posted on the forum.
To answer your question of 'who' I am: I am a highly specialized clinical expert, currently employed in an acute care facility as an educator consultant, risk management consultant, and acute care specialist with certification in several aspects of critical care nursing. I am co-owner of a Legal Nursing Consulting company that has been in business for nearly 12 years, providing expert consulting and expert testimony in claims of medical malpractice (plaintiff and defense), professional license issues (employment law), workers comp, personal injury, and Social Security disability benefits. I am a wife, mother, grandmother (I love the babies!), avid gardener, artist, and musician, a Christian, and an American citizen fed up with our government's career politicians and the belief that somehow we are the parents of the world. I am fed up with medical care's being dictated by accrediting organizations (voluntary accreditation, at that!) and by the cost healthcare's being based on keeping insurance companies having billion-dollar profits, pharmaceutical companies having billion-dollar profits, and the US citizen's consensus that if something bad happens to us or our loved ones that surely someone is to blame and surely that someone owes us millions of dollars. Equally, I am fed up with children having children, rampant illigetimate births, rampant divorce, and each of the aforemention's being placed under court-ordered care, supervision, and directives. I refuse to pay $40,000 for an automobile or to eat meat, produce, or anything else that is grown with growth-enhancers of any kind or with antibiotics. I love high-school football and the Atlanta Braves, good ole Rock-N-Roll, and Billie Holliday. I wear my hair long, my jeans tight, my sweaters loose, and white tennis shoes. Does any of that anwer your question?

EC

 

[talkinghorn]

Foot drop can be caused by more then one thing you know, the sciatic nerve is big and goes from your spine down to your lower extremities so damage at other points in the nerve can result in foot drop (not just in the spine). If someone develops foot drop immediately after hip replacement surgery, it's a pretty safe bet that the cause was the surgery and not some problem in the back.

date of original post 4/26/05

9/21/06
Jassplayer
Junior Member

Join Date: Sep 2006
Posts: 2
physical therapy for foot drop
My Doctor did not mention any specific physical therapy. I did try electrical stimulation to no avail. Please tell me what type of therapy I should be seeking. Thank you. Jassplayer

Jassplayer quoted deedo. Deedo said HE filed a law suit and WON. Deedo said “so whoever the person was who said that if you could have controlled your arthritic pain you wouldn't be in the situation you are in really doesn't know what they are talking about. Just wanted you to know there are others out there who feel your pain, literaly. Keep the faith.”


MY Response to jass stands:

“whoever” that would be EC.

And the inability to move his foot more than an inch after having surgery 1 and ¾ years is likely a problem with something other than postop complication of his thr.

 

[talkinghorn]

This entire thread is a moot point. The statute of limitations for a medical malpractice claim in Kentucky is one year. The statute had run out long before the original poster submitted his/her initial inquiry. (Only an attorney in Kentucky who is familiar with the claim can make an absolute statement on the statute; but, I feel reasonably certain that this poster is SOL as well as having no viable claim of medmal.)

The OP suffered pain, which by the way, comes from nerves! irritated nerves!

The OP had a previous crushing injury to the now 'affected' area, which predisposed the OP to increased risks.

The OP presents himself/herself to be totally ignorant of any risks, yet communicates in a manner that shows at least an average IQ (of 100). The OP is not going to be able to convince a jury that he/she is too stupid to understand risks or to ask questions or to research a surgery before having the surgery.

ecmst12
The sciatic nerve does not cause pain where the OP is complaining of pain, which is the anterior thigh. Although the sciatic nerve does have some influence on plantar flexion, the more likely the nerve(s) damaged are the one that originate in the thigh and attach to the anterior tibia.

talkinghorn
Good grief. Your interjection of spinal stenosis is absolutely not relevant, as is just about every bit of advice you have posted on the forum.
To answer your question of 'who' I am: I am a highly specialized clinical expert, currently employed in an acute care facility as an educator consultant, risk management consultant, and acute care specialist with certification in several aspects of critical care nursing. I am co-owner of a Legal Nursing Consulting company that has been in business for nearly 12 years, providing expert consulting and expert testimony in claims of medical malpractice (plaintiff and defense), professional license issues (employment law), workers comp, personal injury, and Social Security disability benefits. I am a wife, mother, grandmother (I love the babies!), avid gardener, artist, and musician, a Christian, and an American citizen fed up with our government's career politicians and the belief that somehow we are the parents of the world. I am fed up with medical care's being dictated by accrediting organizations (voluntary accreditation, at that!) and by the cost healthcare's being based on keeping insurance companies having billion-dollar profits, pharmaceutical companies having billion-dollar profits, and the US citizen's consensus that if something bad happens to us or our loved ones that surely someone is to blame and surely that someone owes us millions of dollars. Equally, I am fed up with children having children, rampant illigetimate births, rampant divorce, and each of the aforemention's being placed under court-ordered care, supervision, and directives. I refuse to pay $40,000 for an automobile or to eat meat, produce, or anything else that is grown with growth-enhancers of any kind or with antibiotics. I love high-school football and the Atlanta Braves, good ole Rock-N-Roll, and Billie Holliday. I wear my hair long, my jeans tight, my sweaters loose, and white tennis shoes. Does any of that anwer your question?

EC

Thanks but I wasn't nor am I presently interested in you,including- what you do, what kind of music you like, what your politics are, what you eat, how you wear your hair, jeans or your sweaters.

See I was just interested in jass, the guy who asked about his foot drop. He wanted to know about his foot not moving more than a 1/2 inch since his surgery a year and 9 months. The forum is about the people who have a question. It's not about you, honey.

 

[ellencee]

Thanks but I wasn't nor am I presently interested in you,including- what you do, what kind of music you like, what your politics are, what you eat, how you wear your hair, jeans or your sweaters.

See I was just interested in jass, the guy who asked about his foot drop. He wanted to know about his foot not moving more than a 1/2 inch since his surgery a year and 9 months. The forum is about the people who have a question. It's not about you, honey.

I was just having a little fun with you.
EC

 

[cbg]

Am I the only one who noticed that the majority of this thread was from a year and a half ago?

 

[ellencee]

Am I the only one who noticed that the majority of this thread was from a year and a half ago?

I noticed the surgery was a year and half ago (but not the initial post) and that the statute of limitations had not been addressed.

EC

 

[ecmst12]

I love...the Atlanta Braves...

Damn...sorry EC, we can't be friends anymore