Simmons Hanly Conroy is no longer accepting Hip Replacements cases.
A February 2, 2012 article entitled, “Faulty hip implants may cause long-term health, joint damage,” by Janice Lloyd, published on yourlife.usatoday.com, reports that patients with all-metal hip implants, such as DePuy, may continue to experience problems for years after removal. Research on this issue was presented at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons in San Francisco.
In the article, Mathias Bostrom, an orthopedic surgeon at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City, said that damage to the body occurs when the implant pieces break off due to friction from movement. The metal pieces then can become lodged in nearby soft tissue and/or bone and can eventually make their way to the blood stream. The result is inflammation of the tissue around the joint and heart or a rare but more serious nervous system problem from the toxins in the blood.
Research findings listed in the article mention:
- A study in the Netherlands which found 33% (202 out of 614) had adverse soft tissue reactions.
- A study in England which found 24% of patients who had revision surgery after their implants had worsening symptoms, while a third of those had additional surgery. In all cases, problems were due to disease progression around the joint.
- Another study which found 98% of the cups and 93% of the balls showed “moderate to severe scratching” in 46 retrieved implants, according to orthopedic surgeon, Douglas Padgett, of the Hospital for Special Surgery.
