Concerns Over ‘Metal on Metal’ Hip Implants (March 4, 2010)
But in the last two years, broader concerns have emerged amid research reports that the metal debris can ignite severe inflammatory reactions that can damage or destroy muscles, tendons and other soft tissue.
via Studies Raise Concerns About Metal-on-Metal Hip Implants – NYTimes.com.
Understanding how your hip works
Your hip is one of the largest weight-bearing joints in your body. When it’s working properly, it lets you walk, sit, bend, and turn without pain. To keep it moving smoothly, a complex network of bones, cartilage, muscles, ligaments, and tendons must all work in harmony. The hip is a very stable ball-and-socket joint: A ball (femoral head) at the top of the thighbone (femur) fits into a rounded socket or cup-like cavity (acetabulum) in your pelvis. Bands of tissues called ligaments form a capsule connecting the ball to the socket and holding the bones in place.
In another controversy involving all-metal hips, an influential group has found that there is insufficient evidence to show that an alternative technique known as hip resurfacing is as safe and effective as a traditional replacement.
via Hip Resurfacing Operation Loses Important Endorsement – NYTimes.com.
A Guide for Patients with Metal-on-Metal Total Hip Replacements
The Mass General Center for Metal-on-Metal Total Hip Replacement provides state-of-the-art comprehensive care to patients with metal-on-metal total joint replacements and conducts cutting-edge research. Our physicians and researchers have transformed basic discoveries into clinical practice and provide critical evaluation for and specific advice for metal-on-metal implants.
Because some patients with Metal-on-Metal (MoM) hip replacements develop unexplained pain, and because a few develop abnormal tissue reactions to the wear of the implants and require a reoperation, we established a Center that patients could rely on for comprehensive clinical evaluation.
In the majority of cases, conventional pre-operative tests (plain radiographs and standard blood tests) do not reveal any abnormality. Thus, the ordinary follow up evaluation may be of limited value. The mission of Mass General Center for Metal-on-Metal Total Hip Replacement is to provide excellence in clinical care to MoM patients by integrating various specialized tests (analysis of blood samples for metal ions, and imaging studies) in order to establish if an adverse reaction to MoM THR implants is present and to formulate the best way to treat these problems.
via Patient Guide to Metal-on-Metal Total Hip Replacements – Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA.
Some patients with all-metal hips — ones in which the cup and ball of a joint is made of metal — said they had been bounced from doctor to doctor who did not have the knowledge or the tools to properly diagnose the problem. And by the time they reach specialists like Dr. Kwon at Massachusetts General Hospital, potentially lasting damage may have already taken place.
Dr. Kwon’s recent patient, Robert Cartier, said he saw seven doctors over the course of a year who told him not to worry or who gave him shots for his pain. Diagnostic tests also did not point to a problem. Only recently have researchers determined that such scans need to be run in a specific way to detect the extent of metal-related damage.
via A Scramble for Solutions as a Hip Device Fails – NYTimes.com.
Have you recently had a hip replacement? Hip replacement surgery is a major procedure, and there are many questions that you likely had going in to the procedure. But what about things you learned along the way that you wish you had known prior to your hip replacement. What knowledge would you share with someone who needs their hip replaced?
via Hip Replacement Tips – Things You Wish You Had Known Before Hip Replacement.
Any surgery brings its worries but hip operations are routine and the techniques are well tested. Around 300,000 operations were performed last year in the US, alone. There is a very low rate of complications and hip replacement recovery is usually very good. For many people, a return to simple activities like walking a dog without pain are the gift of a lifetime.
via Hip Replacement Recovery: What to Expect, Timelines, Outcomes.
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