The Causes And Treatment Of Avascular Necrosis Of Femoral Head!

Avascular Necrosis refers to a condition that affects the upper half of the leg, especially the femoral head. The femoral head receives less amount of blood supply. As bone is a living tissue, so when the blood supply gets reduced by a sufficient extent, it results in the bone dying out. Collapse of the femoral head takes place and if it is severe then collapse of the hip joint also takes place. It usually crops up as secondary problem to a health issue underlying or because of any previous injury.

Causes behind the problem-
Any kind of either traumatic or non-traumatic problem leads to the problem of Avascular Necrosis. Some of the causes include:

1. This problem can be the result of having sustained a dislocated hip, wherein the femoral head has got dislodged from its joint.
2. Close to 20% of people who suffer from dislocated hip, tend to develop avascular necrosis of femoral head.
3. Excessive consumption of alcohol, chronic use of corticosteroids and any kind of damage to the arteries can result in the emergence of this problem.
4. All the above-mentioned causes interfere with the breaking down of fatty substances. Thus the build up of fatty substances takes place and they get collected within the blood vessels, making them quite narrow. The narrower the blood vessels are, there is restricted blood flow to the femoral head.

Treatment
The primary goal is to help preserve the natural femoral head rather than getting it replaced. The treatment options include:

1. Core Decompression: This involves decreasing the pressure inside the femoral head, which is achieved by way of drilling holes into the femoral head to create channels for new blood vessels for nourishing the affected areas of the hip.
2. Physiotherapy: This happens to be a conservative treatment which aims to decrease the weight bearing load through the head of the femur but still this has not really been a successful method of treating the problem.
3. Total Hip Joint Replacement: It is the final treatment for late stage of Avascular Necrosis which completely eradicates the problem from the root.

No matter what approach one takes, finally the opinion of an orthopaedic surgeon is of paramount importance for ensuring that the condition is treated in the most effective manner.