Houston Injury Lawyer Details Complications of a Bad Hip Replacement Device

For a surgical procedure that occurs so frequently, you would expect hip replacements to increase in safety and effectiveness over time. However, a recent Australian study has demonstrated that new devices have actually injured patients and not demonstrated a benefit over traditional devices. If you have been the victim of a hip replacement failure, you are most certainly filled with the desire to seek answers and justice.

Hip replacement prostheses are often recalled due to manufacturing errors or problems with the design or materials used. Newer prostheses are made of organic polymers like polyethylene and metals like cobalt, chromium, and titanium. Some of these newer prostheses have been recalled due to higher than expected failure rates. A notorious recall is the 2010 DePuy Orthopaedics recall of the ASR XL Acetabular System and the ASR Hip Resurfacing System.

These hip replacement devices were recalled due to several issues that often arise with defective prostheses:

Metal Toxicity: Metals from a prosthesis can be ground down due to improper design and dissociate into their own ions (think of a single metal atom with a positive charge). These ions can wreak havoc locally in the form pseudotumors (small masses caused by a reaction to the metal) or enter the bloodstream and cause systemic damage.

Dislocation: If the device is not shaped properly, it is more likely to dislocate at some point. Dislocation is the most common complication from a hip replacement.

Revision Surgery:  Prosthetic devices that are poorly designed lead to revision surgery. Revision surgery is another hip procedure that either fixes the device or installs a new one. Revision surgery increases the patient’s risk of complications, pain, and a poor outcome.

There is no excuse for hip replacement manufacturers that bring devices onto the market that injure patients. If you have been the victim of a hip replacement failure, please consider contacting the Houston hip replacement attorneys at Vujasinovic & Beckcom. Visit our online library of informative articles and give us a call toll free at (877)724-7800 for a free consultation.