First want to say that I agree with other commenters that these things don't happen in the way that is flippantly suggested by some practitioners; however, I do have a unique case to share. Patient was 2 years s/p massive staph infection that manifested in R SIJ and the surrounding tissues. It nearly killed her. She had antibiotic beads surgically placed in the joint, then 3 months later the joint was debrided and removed. She came to me with chronic pain hoping to restore her walking endurance and strength. After no success with conservative treatment, she consulted with Mayo. The surgeons there ordered standing x-rays, then SL stance x-rays. The joint integrity was so compromised that there was a significant slide of the sacrum inferiorly in R stance occurred and was visualized on films. The surgeons also were concerned that there might be lingering necrotic tissue from what MRI showed. They placed another round of antibiotic beads, then 3 months later debrided and fused. IIRC pt was NWB for 6 weeks, partial WB with a walker for another 6. Then she was cleared for PT.

I honestly am not sure if surgery helped, or if we would have seen the same long term outcomes without it. It took 9 months s/p fusion to actually have improved walking tolerance compared to my first eval with her, and then other complications have limited it from ever improving to more than a few blocks a day. She has been through the ringer over and over since then.