For patients who have cartilage damage, labral tears or relatively mild degenerative changes in their hips, hip subchondroplasty may be an option to preserve the native hip. During the procedure, a bone substitute material is injected into a small hole in the joint, filling any voids or lesions in the bone. Over the few years following surgery, a patient’s body replaces the bone-hardening material with their own healthy bone, leading to potentially permanent repairs.
Subchondroplasty is less invasive than a total hip replacement, usually performed along with a hip arthroscopy, which allows patients to get back on their feet sooner.