loose Durom prosthesis, the saga goes on

[fedup]

It's so bad I don't even want to talk about it,haven't posted in a lon time,  but... I had a Durom resurfacing April 2006 which was immediately painful, swollen (many times normal) and it took 6 weeks just to be able to tolerate physio. Perfect xray... 1.5 years later after ongoing anterior hip pain I had exploratory surgery and iliopsoas tenotomy, yes the tendon was swollen, but when it was cut the whole prosthesis was unstable. I could feel it moving around... perfect xray continues and so does the pain....1.5 years later,metal levels checked (at my suggestion) they are very high... new surgeon does revision to metal on highly crosslinked polyethylene, finds the acetabular prosthesis has never integrated with bone and they hypothesize the constant micromovement of the prosthesis over 3 years has caused an inflamatory reaction in my hip. Post op my pain finally (almost ) goes away, but the anterior hip was so scarred that it still hurts in extension to some degree.  2 months post op revision, fall backwards in the yard and dislocate, reduced under sedation, xray ok, continue with hip precautions for total of 8 months. Now 13 months post op a minor fall ackwards in a physio class and it dislocates agian!! It's back in place and I await the visit to the surgon tomorrow. I come home today and see a health alert has been issued in the UK regarding hip resurfacing. Patients who develop new pain, or do not get pain relief with their surgery are to be carefully reviewed wih MRI and metal levels to rule out a soft tissue reaction consistent with metal hypersensitivity. The longer a problematic resurfacing is left in pace, the more damage is done, the more difficult the revision, the more likely it is to dislocate. I have read this last year. Why did this have to happen to me? Oh well, I will certainly keep holding out on the other side. ps my metal levels are gradually coming down, the cobalt is still elevated  :'(

[Pat Walter]

Hi

I am sorry to read your post.  I don't have any words of wisdom for you except I hope things will get better for you - soon.  I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers.  You deserve to get back to an active and painfree life. 

Please remain positive and concentrate on getting back to a better life.  I am truely sorry to hear about your problems.  I know it is diffiuclt to be the person with the problems while thousands of us are having good lives with our hip resurfacings.  I guess nothing is perfect and some people are unlucky and have to put up with the pain and problems.  I am sorry it had to be you.  I wish all surgeries would be perfect, but this is an unperfect world.  Please keep in touch when you feel like writing.

Take care.

Pat

[fedup]

Thank you for your kind words. I read the recent smith and nephew press releases with interest. It is clear that men under 55 (or even 65) with good anatomy will have an excellent outcome from hip resurfacing (this is also true with THR). This is the first time I have seen a public confirmation that some hip resurfacing devices (Durom and ASR) have higher complication rates due to faulty design. Despite that it looks they are still being used in Australia and elsewhere. Zimmer has stopped producung the Durom, but I wonder if they ever retracted their statement that they thought it was the surgeons incompetence that was causing the problems , as opposed to problems with the design of the prosthesis...

[Hippyu]

Thank you for your kind words. I read the recent smith and nephew press releases with interest. It is clear that men under 55 (or even 65) with good anatomy will have an excellent outcome from hip resurfacing (this is also true with THR). This is the first time I have seen a public confirmation that some hip resurfacing devices (Durom and ASR) have higher complication rates due to faulty design. Despite that it looks they are still being used in Australia and elsewhere. Zimmer has stopped producung the Durom, but I wonder if they ever retracted their statement that they thought it was the surgeons incompetence that was causing the problems , as opposed to problems with the design of the prosthesis...

Hi, how are things now for you 10 years on?