Lady Gaga’s Hip Surgery Raises Profile of Pioneering Procedure
February 21, 2013 – 9:53 am
She wasn’t born that way, but Lady Gaga has had a hip problem for some time apparently and has just undergone hip arthroscopy to repair a labral tear. The condition led her to cancel part of the Born This Way Ball world tour. When the news was announced, Surgical Innovations didn’t miss a beat and distributed a press release suggesting that this might raise the profile of pioneering minimally invasive hip surgery.
Hip arthroscopy is currently performed by a limited number of orthopaedic surgeons because of its technical complexity, notes the release. The procedure is expected to grow year-on-year, however, as clinical training and surgical exposure ramp up, according to UK-based hip surgeon Jon Conroy, who is on the Surgical Innovations clinical advisory board. Lady Gaga undergoing the procedure (and tweeting profusely about it) can’t hurt, either.
Conroy explains the condition and its treatment: “The labrum is a cartilage structure attached to the rim of the hip socket. It creates a seal around the ball of the hip and often tears will occur in athletes or dancers who have repetitive injuries to the hip, as in the case of Lady Gaga. The tear won’t heal itself; thus, surgery is necessary to repair the labrum with stitches. Additionally hip arthroscopy offers opportunities to preserve the hip and potentially, in the future, obviate the need for hip replacements.”
Can you say celebrity endorsement? Or, maybe not. Read MDDI‘s Jamie Hartford’s blog about one such endorsement that went terribly wrong.
