Hip preservation program reduces Katie’s need for future hip replacement

Hip preservation program reduces Katie’s need for future total hip replacement

When Katie Morris felt the first sharp pinch in her groin and right hip, she thought perhaps she had pulled a muscle or somehow twisted her hip or back. She tried various treatments, from chiropractic care to cortisone shots, but nothing truly helped.

For the next three years, Katie put up with the pain until she could no longer tolerate even a mild walk or stand more than a few minutes at a time. In mid-2022 this 27-year-old stood up at her job at a daycare and heard a loud pop from her right hip. It was a last straw of sorts for Katie, who decided she needed to see an orthopedic specialist.

Her choice was fortuitous. She met with orthopedic surgeon Dane Todd, MD, who referred Katie to orthopedic trauma surgeon Steven Shannon, MD. She’d found one of the few places in Nebraska where she could receive the advanced surgery needed to repair her hip and relieve her pain.

Katie was diagnosed with hip dysplasia — an abnormally shallow, sloping hip socket that she likely was born with. In August she became the first surgical patient for Bryan Health’s new hip preservation program.

Dr. Shannon, of Bryan Trauma, conceived the concept of a collaborative center where he and Dr. Todd would address various hip problems, especially disorders in young adults.

“There is an unmet need for comprehensive care of hip deformity in younger patients,” says Dr. Todd, of Nebraska Orthopaedic Center.

Dr. Shannon performed Katie’s procedure. He specializes in hip preservation surgery

Katie Morris suffered from hip dysplasia, but Dr. Steven Shannon performed a periacetabular osteotomy (PAO) to relieve her pain and reduce the risk of Katie needing a total hip replacement.

and the periacetabular osteotomy (PAO) that Katie needed. He learned about this complex procedure during his orthopedic surgery residency at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, and performed them while in private practice on the West Coast.

During the PAO, he cuts into the bone around the hip socket, repositions the socket and secures the new position with screws, which subsequently allows adequate coverage of the ball.

“The surgery decreases pain and greatly reduces the chance of needing a total hip replacement down the road,” Dr. Shannon says.

Patients needing a PAO usually are women who were born with some degree of malformation of the hip socket. This condition often is diagnosed during routine screening; some also are detected in adolescence when a young adult experiences pain with sports or strenuous activity.

“But they can have pain just walking or climbing or descending stairs,” Dr. Shannon says. “In the past, there wasn’t a formal treatment besides ‘toughing it out’ until it reached the point of needing a total hip replacement.”

The surgeons bring special skills to the program.

Dr. Todd grew up in Lincoln and played fullback for the University of Nebraska Cornhuskers. He completed his medical degree and orthopedic surgery residency at Emory University in Atlanta, followed by a sports medicine and arthroscopy fellowship at the University of Utah, Salt Lake City. He returned to Lincoln to treat sports medicine injuries.

For patients of the hip preservation center, he treats hip impingement and hip labrum tears, performing hip arthroscopy.

Dr. Shannon, a native of Nevada, earned his medical degree at the University of Nevada School of Medicine, Reno. In addition to his residency at Mayo Clinic, he completed an orthopedic trauma fellowship at the R. Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore.

Katie, who’s from Hickman, feels fortunate. Three days after the PAO procedure, she went home for recovery and physical therapy.

At first, she was apprehensive, because hip problems run in her family.

“My paternal grandmother has dealt with hip problems since 1942, when she was 6. She received bone grafts at age 8, had a hip replaced in 1976 and since has had another hip replacement surgery. My cousin was born with a dislocated hip and lived in a cast the first year of her life,” she says.

The idea of surgery was daunting to Katie, but she’s glad she chose to do it.

“I can definitely tell the pain is less.”

She advises others to keep looking until they find the source of their pain. “Go get it checked out and don’t wait.” n

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Former football star Dr. Dane Todd teamed up with Dr. Shannon to create the hip preservation program at Bryan.