Dysplasia Specialist

What is hip dysplasia?

Hip dysplasia is a structural abnormality in your hip where the head of your femur isn’t sufficiently covered by a too shallow hip socket (acetabulum), causing instability.

These patients often have a concurrent form of FAI (femoroacetabular impingement or hip impingement) called cam impingement.

Hip dysplasia is typically a condition you were born with, although it can go undiagnosed until adolescence or adulthood.

Hip dysplasia accelerates the normal wear-and-tear on your joint and can lead to painful conditions like labral tears and osteoarthritis.

What are the symptoms of hip dysplasia?

While doctors can screen for hip dysplasia in children, the condition often goes undiagnosed until adolescence or adulthood when your hip has deteriorated enough to cause pain and even a limp.

You might have pain in your groin or side of your hip or notice a catching or popping feeling in your hip.

What causes hip dysplasia?

When you’re born, the socket of your hip joint is made of soft cartilage which gradually hardens into bone. However, if there isn’t enough space in your mother’s uterus, you might be crowded and squeezed, pushing the ball of your hip joint slightly out of place.

This often leads to a shallow hip socket. This situation is more common in first pregnancies, breech pregnancies, and in larger than average babies.

Your risk of hip dysplasia is higher if you have a family history of the condition and/or you’re female.

How is hip dysplasia diagnosed?

Dr. Matsuda has over 30 years of experience in treating complex hip problems including dysplasia. He obtains a detailed patient history including all symptoms and any prior treatments or procedures, followed by a comprehensive set of physical examinations and diagnostic imaging studies (radiographs, MRI, CT scans, and others) to diagnose even subtle dysplasia, cartilage and labral damage, and other bone deformities that others might miss.

If you have unexplained hip pain, make an appointment with Dr. Matsuda at Premier Hip Arthroscopy.

He is one of the top orthopedic hip specialists in the country and uses his extensive knowledge of hip problems combined with diagnostic imaging studies and hip arthroscopy to identify hip dysplasia and other conditions that could be causing your symptoms.

How is hip dysplasia treated?

The only effective treatment of hip dysplasia may be surgery. Dr. Matsuda performs a variety of procedures to address dysplasia during hip arthroscopy, including:

• Labral repairs
• Labral reconstruction
• Cam decompression (femoroplasty)
• Capsular repairs or plication (tightening loose hip capsule)
• Derotational femoral osteotomy (correcting abnormal femur rotation)
• Endoscopic shelf acetabuloplasty (bone grafting)
• Endoscopic periacetabular osteotomy (PAO)

In more severe cases, Dr. Matsuda may recommend what’s called a shelf acetabuloplasty to build a shelf of bone that supports and covers the top of the femoral head or periacetabular osteotomy (PAO or bone cuts around the socket) to better orient the shallow socket.

When osteotomy of the femur is needed, Dr. Matsuda uses a special saw that cuts from the inside-out, enabling minimally invasive correction. Typical deformities include femoral retroversion (retrotorsion) and excessive femoral anteversion (antetorsion) which are abnormal twists in the thigh bone that may cause painful hip conditions and/or compromise surgical outcomes if undetected and unaddressed.

If you’re concerned about hip dysplasia or have unexplained hip pain, call Premier Hip Arthroscopy or make an appointment online today.