Hip Preservation and Arthroscopy

Dr Bernard Lee is one of the few trained hip arthroscopy surgeons in Singapore and was the main hip arthroscopy surgeon at Ng Teng Fong General Hospital. Hip arthroscopy is a technically difficult, minimally invasive keyhole operation that can address many problems deep in the hip joint.

Hip pain is often attributed to hip arthritis, for which hip joint replacements are commonly done. With early diagnosis, many problems that precede hip arthritis can be treated effectively with hip arthroscopy. Using hip arthroscopy, Dr Lee can repair or reconstruct the acetabular labrum, remove loose bodies that are damaging the hip joint and reshape the bones around the hip joint that are causing impingement with a procedure known as osteoplasty. Other problems that can be successfully managed with hip arthroscopy include snapping hip syndrome as well as repair of the hip adductor muscles.

One other cause of hip arthritis is osteonecrosis of the hip, where the bone in the hip dies, resulting in the collapse of the joint. If diagnosed early, core decompression with bone grafting can prevent the progression of the disease and destruction of the joint.

Dr Bernard Lee believes that with early diagnosis and appropriate treatment, many patients can avoid a hip joint replacement.