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Hip revision due to metal on metal ions.
My husband has two great Metal on Metal (MoM) hips from 2008 and 2010. He and surgeon chose these types of replacements as being appropriate for an athletic person, and he has been able to downhill ski with them. Now he has rising levels of chromium and cobalt, released from friction between the metal surfaces, and many aches and pains throughout body. There is an "impressive" pocket of inflammatory fluid around one hip joint (where metal ions are being released) and we are being advised to have a revision where one of the metal parts is replaced with ceramic. This is pending another blood test and a MARS MRI in 5 months. Appreciate hearing from any others with this experience. Thank you.
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We go to Rush in Chicago, they have many sattilitte locations around Chicago, they are the best and their ortos do hundreds of surgeries a year. Where ever you are do a search for the best rated that does alot of what you need.
I am scheduled for a revision in January. Have little pain or disability. Wonder if it is necessary? My cobalt reading is 33.9 and chromium is 11.6. My original surgery was in 2005.
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1 ReactionThis seems to be an increasing issue with older metal-on-metal implants, perhaps as the metal corrodes. Earlier MOM issues seemed to be more related to unusual wear. In either case, the serum chromium and cobalt levels rise - accept levels are below 4 for each.
In addition to tissue damage and possible bone necrosis, here are some ther health problems that can be caused by high serum cobalt: heart damage or rapid heart rate, tremors or neuropathy, thyroid issues, hair loss, fatigue and damage to the atonomic nervous system.
The only sure way to lower the metal levels is to remove the offending implant(s) - after several months to a year, the body excrete the excess metal and levels return to normal.
What led you to schedule revision?
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1 ReactionNew to this group. My husband had a Wright Conserve L Hip replacement done in 2006 (MOM). This device was not on the recall list. He recently went in for a consult on his R hip which he will have replaced in June of this year.
Blood work showed chromium level of 4.3 and cobalt level of 16.6. An MRI of the MOM L hip replacement was advised in the future to rule out fluid collection and soft tissue destruction. We were told that if a revision was required, that the surgery would be much worse than the original surgery as it would require splitting the femur in half to remove the femoral stem. Apparently, the Conserve hip consists of 3 separate parts (the femoral stem, femoral head and acetabular cup). Our doc said the surgery would require 8 weeks of non-weight bearing. Needless to say, my husband is not willing to have this extensive, invasive surgery as his left hip is not causing him any problems.
Has anyone out there had a revision surgery on a Conserve hip where just the head and the cup were replaced with ceramic? Seems like this would be much less invasive with less recovery time.
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Welcome to the group. I am not familiar with this specific hip, but it sounds like an unusually complex procedure...The typical problem with MOM implants is the friction between the metal acetabular cup and the femoral head so only those are replaced without disturbing the stem.
That's how my revisions, and those of several others I know weer done.
What I would do is to start making calls to see who specializes in revisions near you. Or contact a hospital with a ,large orthopedic surgery practice - the local trauma center is a good place to start.
Let us know if you need help finding somewhere.
Thanks for your help, Sue. The orthopedic surgeon who will be performing the hip replcement on the right side said he will be referring us to a surgeon who specializes in hip revision surgeries but that this is most likely the approach he'd take. If we meet with the revision specialist and he plans on taking the stem removal approach, we will definitely be looking for 2nd, 3rd, 4th opinions 🙂 Thanks again.