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Labral Reconstruction

Why choose Dr. White for your Hip Arthroscopy or Labral Reconstruction?

Dr. White’s passion and devotion towards the hip joint began with his fellowship with Dr. Philippon. This strong foundation allowed him to focus on the hip joint from the beginning of his career. He started a database in July of 2009 for all of his hip arthroscopy surgeries. He credits his improvement in technique and the direction of his practice to the continued, objective evaluation of his outcomes and data. Specifically, this has validated his technique for allograft labral reconstruction and has allowed him to publish this procedure in the Orthopaedic literature. The fatal flaw with the native, torn labrum is that it is highly innervated with pain fibers and that it is typically injured for a long period of time in patients before surgery is performed. In this situation, attempting to repair this tissue can fail or result in a hip that is still painful. The labral reconstruction is simply different. The labral graft is incorporated by the body, restores the normal biomechanics of a native labrum, but should never have the ability to regain innervation. In other words, it can never feel pain. This is an ideal solution for a very challenging problem, especially in situations where the labrum is not suitable for repair or a previous attempt to repair the labrum has failed.

Experience Matters

Simply put, your first surgery represents your best opportunity to be perfect, to return to activity, and to return to the life that allows you to be happy again. He performs on average 430 hip arthroscopies per year, 11 per week, and nearly all of them are labral reconstructions. Approximately 100 of these cases are revision hip arthroscopies with labral reconstruction. In December of 2019, he performed his 3,000th labral reconstruction. The labral reconstruction procedure has incredible potential, but is an extremely difficult and challenging surgery. Performed well it can yield perfect results, performed poorly it can create problems that are difficult to fix. Many equate 10,000 hours to the perfection of a craft. Dr. White spends over 2,500 hours per year in the operating room performing this surgery and has made it reproducible for even the most challenging hip. His passion, devotion, and commitment are felt when you sit in room with him. He takes the responsibility given to him with each patient seriously. He surrounds himself in both the Operating Room and his clinic with similar minded people devoted to a common goal. That goal is to make you perfect and whole again.

I perform 100% of your surgery and do not train fellows or residents. I take the responsibility you have entrusted me with very seriously and put everything that I have into your operation.

Published Studies

Severe Pincer Study:

Do you have a very deep Cup or Acetabulum? This study focuses on my technique for Severe Pincer Type FAI with significant reduction of the over-coverage and Labral Reconstruction. This technique was 98% successful for this very challenging deformity.

Published Study: Severe Pincer Study

Expanding Evidence: 2022 Labral Reconstruction Review:

I was asked to write another review paper in 2022 as evidence in support of Labral Reconstruction has expanded significantly in the last 10 years.

Published Study: Expanding Evidence: 2022 Labral Reconstruction Review

Hip labral reconstruction:

Most debates on this issue in which I have participated have focused on labral reconstruction vs. repair or debridement. Therefore, I see this opportunity to discuss the advantages of complete labral reconstruction vs. segmental grafting as a sign of progress.

Published Study: Hip labral reconstruction

Over 40 study:

Are you over 40 years old? This paper directly compares Labral Reconstruction to Labral Repair in over 300 patients. Labral Repairs failed almost 3 ½ times more than the Labral Reconstructions. This paper proves that Labral Reconstruction is the best surgery in this age group.

Published Study: Over 40 study

Bilateral Study:

This is a clean comparison study of 29 patients that I performed a Labral Repair on one side and a Labral Reconstruction on their other hip. None of the Reconstructions failed and 31% of the Labral Repairs required another surgery. This proves Labral Reconstruction in my hands is simply a better operation.

Published Study: Bilateral Study

Revision Study:

This paper proved that Labral Reconstruction is the best surgery for people who have had a previous hip arthroscopy that did not work.

Published Study: Revision Study

1st Labral Reconstruction Study:

This was my first paper on Allograft Labral Reconstruction of the hip and the first to describe my “Front to Back” technique. It also validated the use of donor tissue for the graft.

Published Study: 1st Labral Reconstruction Study

Original Labral Reconstruction Technique Description:

This is my original description of my “Front to Back” allograft labral reconstruction technique.

Published Study: Original Labral Reconstruction Technique Description

Femur Fracture:

This looked at patients who had broken their femur and still had pain in the hip after it was fixed. It showed that sometimes the pain is not from the fracture or the hardware used to fix it, it can be from a torn labrum.

Published Study: Femur Fracture

Review Paper-when to perform and how:

This is a paper that I was asked to write several years ago to summarize my experience and the literature support at that time for labral reconstruction.

Published Study: Review Paper-when to perform and how

General Post-Op Instructions

Rehabilitation following surgery, in many instances, is as important as the surgery itself. It requires a commitment from the patient to make it a part of their daily routine. I believe that physical therapists and athletic trainers have an integral role in guiding and assisting patients through this process. I will work with both you and your therapist to ensure that your rehabilitation is appropriate and that you are progressing and improving, as you should.

Orthopaedic rehabilitation is always tailored to the individual patient’s goals and is affected by the type of surgery that was performed and intra-operative findings.  The total duration for therapy and progression to return to full activity is always individualized.  Please see these links for more information on therapy guidelines for specific surgeries.

“Dr. White is one of the most caring doctors that I have ever experienced. His dedication to his patients is top drawer. When he enters the exam room he makes you feel as though you are his only patient, rare for any doctor, even less a highly skilled very busy surgeon. I highly recommend Dr. White for any type of hip surgery.“