When a hip replacement surgery fails, there may be a need for a more painful, more complex and more costly hip revision procedure. Any surgical attempt may have potential complications. The complexity of revision joint surgery increases the chance of complications, including a likely defective hip device. Now, Britain’s Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is recommending that recipients receive lifetime hip replacement checkups, according to Reuters.
Every surgery may have potential risks and complications. The decision for a joint revision surgery is based on many factors. Although joint replacement is successful in many patients, certain signs and symptoms will indicate that the implant has failed in others. Joint revision surgery is necessary when pain, swelling, limp, stiffness, or instability of a failed prosthesis become too great. The complexity of revision corrective joint surgery increases the possibility of complications too. One reason for a primary hip surgery failure is a defective hip device.
Hip revision surgery is a procedure involving the repair an artificial hip joint (prosthesis) that has been damaged over time due to an infection, or due to normal wear and tear of the prosthetic hip. Revision surgery further helps to correct the problem so the hip can function normally again.
In hip replacement surgery, the diseased parts of the hip are replaced with an artificial hip device. Meanwhile, in hip revision surgery, the artificial hip joint is removed and replaced with a new one. Depending on the severity of the infection, more than one hip revision surgery may be required. In these more severe cases, the first surgery will be needed to remove the old prosthesis scar tissue and treat the joint with antibiotics for the infection. When the hip is cured of infection, surgery is performed to provide a new prosthetic.
The use of artificial hip implants is really effective in improving hip joints that are damaged by injury or some form of arthritis. However, artificial joints, including hip joints, do not last forever. The typical life of an artificial hip joint is 10 to 15 years, depending on the patient’s daily use of the joint, experts say.
Bleeding, infection, and trauma to nerves or blood vessels are possible with any surgical procedure. The risk of these complications is higher than primary procedures. As collated by medical professionals, other possible health complications from a hip revision surgery include:
· Dislocation of hip revision implants.
· Occurrence of heart and lung complications, or stroke conditions
· Position problems or loosening of the new components is possible.
· Development of deep venous thrombosis, pulmonary embolism, or blood clots in the legs or lungs.
· Migration of revision implants due to poor bone quality or inadequate fixation.
The decision to perform revision joint surgery is made when the benefits of pain relief and functional improvement outweigh the risk of these potential complications. In the case of Johnson & Johnson, the DePuy hip recall was implemented in August 2010 due to safety issues of the device. The company is currently facing various hip replacement lawsuit and class action lawsuits filed by affected patients.
References:
· my.clevelandclinic.org/
· orthopedics.about.com/od/
· evertsmith.com/treatment/
