Can My Unsatisfactory Hip Implants Be Revised?

Q: Dr. Eppley, I had cosmetic hip implants done in Los Angeles — twice, actually. The second was to upsize. 

Unfortunately I’m not terribly pleased with the result — while the “width” is roughly what I was going for, the widest point is definitely higher than I would have liked, and the placement of the implants appears uneven when comparing both sides. 

I am just curious if you would consider doing such a remove/replace following a different surgeon’s work, especially knowing that your approach would likely be a bit different (including carving out a larger pocket). If this is something you’d consider, please let me know and I’ll send pictures. 

A: Thank you for your inquiry and detailing your hip implant history. I have no restrictions about performing secondary/revisional surgery on other surgeon’s work as I do it all the time. My only criteria for such surgeries is whether I have a high confidence that what I can do with actually improve the patient’s concerns.

In that regard the critical issues are the shape of the hip implants and their current asymmetrical positioning. The former is the most assured to improve as that is a function of their shape/design of which your exact concerns I have seen numerous times. While I would need to see the design file for your current hip implants, most likely it is that the maximum projection is in the upper third of the implant. Many patients desire the maximum projection area to be lower.

Hip implant asymmetry, however, is a different matter and is not so easily improved. The incisional access to hip implants is remote from the actual encapsulated pocket and visual access is very limited to pocket manipulation/change. While the implant can be lowered through a small incision at its inferior end, raising up a low hip implant is almost impossible to do in my experience.

Dr. Barry Eppley

Indianapolis, Indiana