Like heart, if the blood supply to the bone (femoral head of Hip joint) gets damaged it can lead to a complete collapse of the Hip Joint. This condition is called AVASCULAR NECROSIS.

Avascular Necrosis (AVN) is a cellular death of bone component, which occurs when the blood supply to the bones is temporarily or permanently blocked. In the absence of blood, bone tissues die and the bone collapses. If this condition isn’t treated, it leads to severe pain, resulting in Arthritis. Avascular Necrosis is also called Osteonecrosis or Aseptic Necrosis. Different stages of osteonecrosis can be distinguished of which stages I & II represent the stages before fracture and stages III & IV the stages after a fracture. This condition leads to arthritis and joint gets damaged.

Data suggested that AVN is the main cause (over 49%) of Hip Replacement in India and also AVN is 5 times more common in males than female.

AVN is most common in hip and shoulder but can affect other large joints as well.

The main symptoms of AVN are a pain when you put weight on your hip.

The initial symptoms are usually felt during activity and include pain or aching in the affected joint. Symptoms usually begin slowly and may initially be sporadic. Sometimes, the pain may begin quite suddenly. As the disease progresses, the pain increases and is associated with stiffness and loss of motion of the involved joint. Limping becomes common. The hip is the most common joint affected, and the pain is usually felt in the groin.