has anybody had a bhr go bad ???

[mark-taffy]

hi
im post 3 weeks BHR now and all going well , i have done alot of reading how good these implants are but never heard anything bad from people  (which is a good thing i know) ,only what could happen . i was just wondering if anyone on here has had probs ,i often worry about my cup i know the head is cemented on but what holds the cup in place could it move ??
thanks mark

[Neild5]

Mark,

Good to hear all is going well.  Yes, there are failures with the BHR, but in the hand of an experienced surgeon they are few.  As far as the cup,   the pelvis is reamed slightly smaller than the cup and then the cup is pressed in.  The top surface of the cup is very rough and treated with a bone growth drug and the bone will attach to the cup.

[Dannywayoflife]

Mark essentially the bone welds its self to the cup by growing into all the beads that are cast into it. But this does take time

[hernanu]

Hi mark, Neil and Danny pretty much covered the attachment of the cup itself.

There can be some issues with the cup over time, but it is comparatively rare. In the Australian registries, problems of any kind were with about 3.6% of the procedures. Of those that had issues, about half had lysis (slipping of the cup) issues. That's about 1.8% of all HRs done.

So the attachment of the cup and continued growing of the bone into the matrix of beads embedded into the surface is a pretty reliable connection. We can make things better by sticking with the recommendations of our surgeons about activity as the bone grows into that matrix of metal beads and connects, not just on one surface, but in three dimensions.

So as Neil described, initially that extremely tight fit from the pressing (hammering) of the cup into an area slightly smaller than the cup is more than enough to hold on for early use (which is where you are), and in the long term, as Danny wrote, that tight fit is then strengthened a thousandfold by the bone attaching itself over time.

All of us have the cup help in place by this mechanism. The femoral component is where there is some variation - mine was attached with glue, some surgeons use glueless attachment mirroring the way the cup is held on; both with and without glue seem to work pretty well on the femoral, but the cup is (as far as I know) always attached without glue.

We all worried about exactly what you're bringing up - it's normal to worry, but the odds are heavily in your favor. That doesn't minimize the suffering of those of us that have things go wrong, but even then a good alternative is available.

You're still early in your healing, I'd just get into that and the recuperation and let your mind be eased by the very high probability that things are going well and the hope and expectation that they will continue so.

[mark-taffy]

thanks for the relpys guys  ;
ta mark

[Tin Soldier]

I agree with Hern on the idea of not worrying about the component and rely on the high success rate.  Don't let any of the funny news on metal on metal worry you.  All the media reports are very embellished.

Something to add on the bone growth topic.  That's been discussed a fair amount here and you probably already had your surgeon tell you this, but the press-fit cup is all great now for the early recovery period (walking, light exercise) and so is the femoral neck and cap with or without glue, but the whole package of bone and alloy needs 6 months to a year for full healing.  So take it easy early on and follow your doc's and PT's orders. 

Congrats on the new hip.