drjoelwilliams

Home
United States
Chicago, IL
drjoelwilliams

Hip & Pelvis Surgeon
Rush University Medical Center
Cook County Hospital
Chicago, IL

11/13/2025

LIVE Q&A with Dr. Williams on December 8th!
Comment your questions below ⬇️

Also make sure to check out Dr. Williams website!
(linked in bio or visit chicagohipdoctor.com)

11/05/2025

Patient Testimonial — Ryan Milowski 🏃‍♀️💬

Q: What operation did you have?
A: I had a periacetabular osteotomy (PAO)!

Q: How long was recovery?
A: Full recovery took about a year, back to running at a year and a half!

Q: How far post-op are you now?
A: 3 years post-op and feeling great!

Q: What activities are you back to?
A: Golf, pickleball, and running. I’m super active again!

Q: Any tips for someone preparing for hip surgery?
A: Mentally prepare yourself. It’s tough at first, but so worth it!

Q: Biggest improvement?
A: Being able to sit and sleep without pain. You don’t realize how much that means until it’s gone.

Q: Advice for anyone nervous about surgery?
A: It’s totally normal to be nervous! Dr. Williams and his team took amazing care of me. I’d trust them again in a heartbeat.

Q: How has your quality of life changed?
A: So much better. I’m truly able to enjoy life again!

Dr. Williams will be hosting a live Q&A session! If you have any questions make sure to leave a comment to make sure it gets answered!

10/29/2025

Meet Dr. Joel Williams, a leading orthopedic surgeon in Chicago specializing in comprehensive hip care at Rush University Medical Center. 🏥

05/06/2024

AO pelvis course 2024.
Amazing experience sharing ideas and techniques last week!

05/07/2023

2023 AO pelvis course is a wrap! Such a great educational event to teach and exchange knowledge with colleagues and friends.

12/17/2022

Davos 2022
Grateful for the opportunity to teach and share ideas with friends and colleagues from around the world. The next generation is inspiring.

05/09/2021

POSTERIOR WALL ACETABULAR FRACTURES: WHEN TO FIX VS FIX & REPLACE

This is a 72 year old woman that was in a car crash and sustained a posterior wall (hip socket) fracture dislocation.

Due to her age, impaction, multifragmentary fracture, femoral head dent and associated dislocation we went with combined fixation and hip replacement.

She was walking right after surgery and is doing well 2+ years postop.

The decision to fix alone vs. fix with replacement is often challenging. However, the decision to recommend replacement was fairly straightforward for her as she is a high-functioning individual with many strong risk factors for failure.

I have no regrets about the decision to recommend replacement and I’m happy with her outcome. Two critiques for this case are 1) the cup position is too vertical, 2) one of the screws is too long.

05/07/2021

Happy nurses week to the best team on the planet. Thanks for everything you do and making work more fun.

04/12/2021

This is not a black and white case, as evidenced by the comments on the previous post. Some said fix/preserve, some said replace....We went with fix. The outcome of this surgery will hopefully last for a significant amount of time--- longer than a hip replacement in a young, active laborer.

After a long conversation, the patient and I decided upon fixation and acute valgus intertrochanteric osteotomy.

The posterior fracture edge had eburnated with a 1cm defect when the anterior portion was reduced. I placed a bicortical piece of auto-ICBG in the defect and compressed with lag screws. The osteotomy was 20 degrees and a partial wedge.
He is now 7 months postop, healing and not showing signs of AVN.

There isn’t a chapter in a book or high level data to guide decision making for this situation.

Know your options (or phone a friend) and take the patient specific details into account.

------------------------------

1. Pros/cons for replacement: This is the most predictable and fastest option for recovery, but the long term fate of a THA in a 35yo (especially in the context of his societal/insurance problems that brought him to this situation) are concerning. Revision rates in most publications for young THA are unacceptably high. Each time he undergoes a revision THA, the longevity decreases and complication rates increase.

2. Pros/cons for fixation/preservation: High risk and high reward. If it works, it could be a great long term solution for him. The downside is a higher risk of early failure (nonunion, AVN). For a young healthy guy that has a viable head with intact cartilage, I didn't want to jump straight to replacement. If this option doesn't work, replacement is still an option.

04/06/2021

This is a 35-year-old patient who is a manual laborer. He presented to our hospital over three weeks out from this injury. He went to a number of other facilities but was denied treatment due to lack of insurance (yes, in chicago, in 2021 🤦‍♂️).

His injury resulted from a ground level fall and had difficulty walking after the incident. He denies antecedent pain, personal/family history of metabolic/endocrine disorders. He would like to remain as active as possible.

What would you do if this patient showed up in your emergency room? I realize many people would jump straight to a replacement but what are the other options and do they make sense for this young healthy patient?

03/24/2021

⚠️Hip transplant from a cadaver

This patient is a 26 year old woman with bilateral hip osteonecrosis who underwent a bone/cartilage ‘transplant’ and a labral reconstruction.

Osteonecrosis (avascular necrosis or AVN) is a devastating condition that often causes hip arthritis in young people. If caught before the arthritis process starts, hip preservation is an option.

Before the procedure, she had a diagnostic hip arthroscopy and core decompression by to be sure she was a good candidate for the transplant procedure.

X-rays at the end.

Address

1611 W. Harrison Street , Suite 300
Chicago, IL
60612

Website

http://chicagohipdoctor.com/

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when drjoelwilliams posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Practice

Send a message to drjoelwilliams:

Shortcuts

Want your practice to be the top-listed Clinic in Chicago?