Stryker Hip Replacement Implant: Possible Health Complications
It has been nearly 50 years since hip replacement operations have been introduced to the medical world. It was Sir John Charnley of England who was responsible for the first hip replacement surgery to happen. Since then it has been helping thousands of people with bone diseases and is considered as one of the most successful operations in all of medicine. In the United States, almost 285,000 total hip replacement surgeries are completed in a span of one year. In this type of operation, Stryker hip replacement implant is often used by surgeons.
Stryker’s Rejuvenate and ABG II hip implants are unlike the regular hip implants which are stationary. They are modular neck hip stems, composed of more than a few necks and stems, which are all made of metal. Custom-fitted hip implant device is one of the perks of these hip prostheses.
But in spite of the advantages, fretting and corrosion may be prompted still. Because of the flexibility of the parts, fretting may result while corrosion is from the constant grinding of the metal parts resulting to swelling, pain, and metal poisoning.
Metallosis also known as metal toxicity is a rare disease which occurs when metal fragments accumulate in the body’s soft tissue. Then this may trickle to the blood circulation affecting other body organs.
You are prone to develop metal poisoning if you are petite, female, or on the heavy side as it will burden the implanted device and escalate discharge of metal fragments into the bloodstream.
This pressed Stryker Corporation to withdraw their products, Stryker Rejuvenate Modular and ABG II modular-neck hip stems on July 2012.Recipients of these hip prostheses are determined to make legal actions concerning its dangerous effects.
Dr. Robert Zann, an orthopedic surgeon in Boynton Beach, Florida said, “The numbers of Stryker hip implant recall patients needing revision surgery has exhausted some doctors. For patients, the situation is even worse, as tissue and bone damage often leaves revision patients in worse shape than before.”
Furthermore, almost 20,000 Stryker Rejuvenate and ABG II hip prostheses were put on the market before news of it being withdrawn spread.
Sources:
orthoinfo.aaos.org/topic.cfm?topic=a00377
stryker.com/en-us/products/Orthopaedics/modularneckstems/index.htm