Core decompression is a simple operation where drill holes are placed through the neck into the head of the femur. The hope is that new blood vessels will grow through these drill holes to re-vascularize the dead portions of the head. Many contradictory studies have been published. I am not convinced that there is any value to this operation and I do not perform it. Other surgeons still routinely offer this operation. There is some hope that injecting new bone growth stimulators (such as infuse) through the drill holes might improve the results. I have tried this in 10 patients, but I abandoned it after 5 failed within 1 year requiring hip replacement. I continue to hope that others will discover a technique to make this work.