Is there a hospital or Dr in US who understand metal allergies in TKR?

Thank you for taking the time to respond, even as you recover from your own surgery - that was very kind. best wishes to you as well, for a successful recovery.

My husband was septic with staph in artificial knee and artificial hip. Doctors told us they couldn’t help him. We saw Dr Ware at Scott and White in Temple, Tx. He is an orthopedic oncologist. He was able to heal my husband who has been great for 4 years. He gets annual check up and is on an antibiotic but feels great and is now very active. Dr Ware even gave me his personal cell to contact him any time. A true hero in our family.

Well, I’m glad you have somebody who’s working with you. I’ve tried to find a place to test for a nickel, but I haven’t done one. I have that one with me. I had a total knee replacement a rash that goes completely around my knee down my leg on the inside from my knee to my toe And then it goes up from the grinding area. They sent me to a dermatologist. Nobody will even consider that I could have metal sensitivity and I bring metal sensitivity up. They’ll stop saying I was giving a $16,000 shot. I don’t think it’s on the market yet but it’s side effects for Suicide. They did nothing And was given another shot or pin yesterday that I was told that I would have to take for the rest of my life and I can’t do this anymore. I’ve been laying on my side for about five years. I get up for a couple days and I’m down for a couple days. I was a very active person. What do you do?

@dia61 This lab in Chicago tests for allergies to many implant materials. https://www.orthopedicanalysis.com/ if you need treatment for implant reactions, you can find information at https://www.ehcd.com/ . That is a practice that pioneered environmental medicine with the original founder.

I did have a reaction to titanium plates after an ankle fracture. I was getting hives all the time and had the plates removed after I was healed. That was the end of having chronic hives and pain from the plates.

Thank you very much for the information. I’m not saying that I do have that, but I would like to rule that out if I’m told him on the on my leg all around the knee they’re calling it some type of dermatitis in the shot really tough were you able to just contact the lab and they did some type of test or did you have to get your doctor to do that? I guess I could call them😊

I am so sorry for all that you are going through! It sounds like to me that you had an allergy to nickel. It is very common but many surgeons and medical practices never even think to ask if you have had any reactions to nickel. Many people who I know who have had TKR were never asked and it turned out that they were lucky. The only way that I knew was that many years ago, when I would buy cheap pierced earrings, I would break out in a rash on my earlobes and they would swell and itch. When I was about to have knee replacement, the dr asked if I had a nickel allergy and sent me for testing. The tests showed a HUGE allergy to nickel, so with the replacement, he ordered a nickel free one. You should go back to your surgeon and tell him, along with letting him see, all that you are going through. You may have to have the original replacement removed and have a nickel free one put in. Sending you my best wishes.

Dr. Young-Min Kwon is an orthopedic surgeon at Massachusetts General in Boston. He runs the Biomedical Lab and he is a professor at Harvard Medical School. You should send him an email. If he doesn't have an answer, he would know who would.

@mabfp3 I did have an allergy blood test prior to spine surgery that didn’t find anything. I also had problems with pierced earrings so I expected it. Titanium isn’t pure either. I was fine for 6 months and then I got hives. It just shows that you can develop an allergic reaction later after a period of exposure. My surgeon knows about this since he took his plates out and I have been fine ever since. Thanks for your concern. I hope I don’t need more replacement parts.