Upsurge of Complains Results of Banning All-Metal
Surgeons from the United Kingdom requested to stop recommendation of an all-metal replacement to people with hip joint damaged from arthritis or an injury after the surge of faulty devices implanted causing patients to live an uncomfortable life, according to BBC News. The controversial issues behind the insertion of an artificial device such as Depuy pinnacle was being told by a british surgeon to BBC News.
The all-metal replacement is one of the processes of the total hip arthroplasty which comprises in the replacement of a broken hip and changing it to a non-natural joint also recognized as prosthesis which is composed of a ball component, made of metal or ceramic, and a socket, which has an insert or liner made of plastic, ceramic or metal, according to the Mayo Clinic website. The implanted artificial device used in the hip replacements was given a biocompatible design which is fitting in a person's body and was made to resist corrosion, degradation and wear, but what is happening now is a contrast to what it assured to its consumers.
In addition the specialists in UK strongly said that patients should no longer be given all-metal hip replacements, even if the regulators has assured it to be safe. Large head metal-on-metal implants may cause serious side effects with wear, BBC News reported.
The BBC's Newsnight and the British Medical Journal recently found out that the problems were already discovered more than 10 years ago. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) insists that the implants may still be used but the British Hip Society disagrees. Its surgeons say that the hip replacement surgeries should no longer be performed, according to BBC News. Recently, the MHRA reported that patients who had undergone a large head metal-on-metal hip replacement has already numbered at 49,000 and that the condition of these patients should be monitored annually for life, BBC News says.
The regulator advises patients suspecting of metal on their bloodstream to undergo blood tests to check for minute metal debris from the joints, and magnetic resonance imaging scans if they have raised metal levels or show adverse symptoms. The recent statistic from the National Joint Registry for England and Wales, there are about 1,400 patients that had a large head metal-on-metal hip replacement in 2010, according BBC News. The British Hip Society mentions that the patients similar to these must not have such transplants because there is no sufficient proof to show if the benefits outweigh the risks. But Dr. Susanne Ludgate, clinical director of the MHRA, said that the implants were vindicated in some occurrences.
Dr. Ludgate says that they recognize that there is an emerging evidence of increased revision rates associated with large head metal-on-metal replacements. But the clinical substantiation is varied and this does not support their being taken out from the market. She even tries to persuade those stopping the usage of metal-hip replacement that metal-on-metal resurfacing hip implants enables young patients to lead pain-free, independent lives, BBC News said.
What triggers the patient from filing a Depuy pinnacle lawsuit is when the metal-hip replacement becomes defective causing them severe discomfort.