Why Choose the Young Adult Hip Preservation Program

I'm a young adult, why would I come to CHOP?

Why should you choose CHOP’s Young Adult Hip Preservation Program instead of an adult provider? Because we are national experts in treating hip disorders that you may have been born with or developed during childhood.

For some people, a hip disorder doesn't become problematic or painful until adulthood — but it often stems from an underlying pediatric hip condition. The pathology and treatment for these congenital, pediatric disorders requires the knowledge and expertise of doctors who, like those at CHOP, understand the full developmental spectrum of the human hip joint. 

Furthermore, we are not looking to replace your natural hip with an artificial one — as most adult providers are — but rather to reconstruct or enhance your natural hip and hip socket. Hip preservation and reconstruction prolong the function of your natural hip and decrease the need for an artificial hip replacement now and in the future.

CHOP's Young Adult Hip Preservation Program has the experience, expertise and comprehensive care to change your life for the better.

Our experience

CHOP’s Young Adult Hip Preservation Program is the largest and most comprehensive program in the region for adolescents and young adults with hip pain. 

Our surgeons — Wudbhav N. Sankar, MD, and Lawrence Wells, MD, — perform some of the most complex orthopedic surgical procedures in the world.

We have special expertise in hip preservation in adolescents and young adults to stop continued damage to bone and cartilage. By fixing your natural hip, our doctors can prevent the need for premature replacement with an artificial hip. Dr. Sankar has extensive specialized training in hip reconstruction for young adults and is the only physician in the region performing certain highly-complex hip preservation surgeries on both adolescents and young adults.

Our expertise

Our team of hip specialists is actively researching the conditions that cause hip deformities, investigating new surgical techniques, and tracking long-term outcomes for patients with hip disorders.

Dr. Sankar, director of CHOP’s Young Adult Hip Preservation Program, is an integral member of three major pediatric and young adult multi-center research groups, including the International Hip Dysplasia Institute (IHDI), the International Perthes Study Group (IPSG), and the Academic Network of Conservational Hip Outcomes Research (ANCHOR). 

Current hip research in young adults includes examining surgical outcomes for Ganz periacetabular osteotomy, hip arthroscopy and surgical dislocation of the hip, evaluating the disease characteristics of conditions that require hip preservation, and refining imaging techniques for avascular necrosis and early osteoarthritis. 

In addition, our hip specialists regularly collaborate with the Center for Applied Genomics at CHOP, one of the world's largest genetics research programs and the only center at a pediatric hospital to have large-scale access to state-of-the-art throughput genotyping technology.

Our comprehensive care

The Young Adult Hip Preservation Program offers complete care for young adults with hip defects or injuries — from evaluation, to treatment and long-term follow-up care.

We offer a full spectrum of diagnostic and imaging testing (MRI, CT scans and X-rays), and also use individualized, disease-specific imaging protocols that include cartilage mapping technology. By better visualizing the entire hip, our clinical team can provide a more accurate diagnosis and help guide surgical treatment if needed.


Next Steps
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Young Adult Hip Preservation Program

Watch: Stephanie's Story

Learn about the Young Adult Hip Preservation Program, specifically for young adults with complex hip disorders.