Need TKR and had positive allergy testing / Bone Cement and Metals

I can't believe that surgeons ever did MoM joint replacements. Was that before they perfected the polyethylene that they use now?

I'm sorry for those of you going through this. I'd talk with a lawyer as well.

I hope you all get better.

Joe

I guess it was b4…however, soon after, I started seeing the recalls on TV…I thought “wow, I must be lucky”…I thought the recalls were due to mechanical failure…LITTLE did I know !!!

I went to the Ortho surgeon, just a couple months ago (the 1 who did the 1st THR.
I asked him if there was anything I could do to help my body speed the process of getting rid of the ions…he said “I have no idea what you’re trying to say” . “Never heard of mettalosis!
It was 1 of the most bizzare moments I’ve ever had! An Orthopedic surgeon telling me there was no such thing, & he’d never heard of it!!
And yes, I’ve talked to attorneys. They have all declined…I think a statute of limitations had expired. So, this is my life now. CONSTANT physical pain & I have AVN in my other hip…no idea what I’ll do if it craters

Jan 2021, I had my 1st TKR on my right knee in Indiana at 53 years old. From the beginning I complained it felt like knee was coming out my right side of leg, unstable, and lots of pain. 6 months later Dr advised doing a manipulation, to break up scare tissue. I sought 4 more opinions in Chicago all said my glue had not bonded to bone they saw on x ray acknowledged why I felt that way, they also said do not let him do that you will have worse problems. Aug 2021 I had revision with Dr from Northwestern in Chicago. The Dr replaced the bottom stem but not the top knee cap area. He had spoke with Depuy my maker of implant and they said it would work. It would be less invasive on me as well. This go around lots of pain but it feels somewhat stable. Since day one I have felt foot pain (feels like finger nails coming up the bottom of my foot and like I have blisters on bottom as well but none) . My front and back of calf ache all the time feels like the implant is hitting my front of leg bone and knee cap area hurts even thigh / quad pain day and night. I also get unbelievable bottom of foot, ankle and toe cramping. This takes my breath away, I try to walk it out and sometimes it does not help. Dr said to give revision 12-18 months to really know how I would be. At 12 months pain so bad in all places and never goes away even when I am off my feet, Dr sent me to a Back Dr to rule out foot pain not from back, ankle and foot Dr, and a neurosurgeon. Not many answers. Back dr does not think foot pain from back. I then sought out 3 more neurosurgeon opinions. Orthopedic Dr in South Bend who works with Notre Dame athletes validated the feeling of hitting my bone as the new implant in his words is toggling back and forth. He said the implant was so long and bottom portion not glued so it is moving as I walk. He said he would have replaced with smaller implant and replaced the whole thing. He sent me for more testing. He asked me to have metal testing done. I found out I am allergic to nickel and my new implant is 10% nickel. He then had me see his senior orthopedic surgeon, back dr at practice and pain management dr. They decide they thought too risky to take out and redo. They could not promise I could be better and if not worse. 24/7 pain is pretty bad. I then sought Dr NY Mt Sanai for consultation. He recommended I find Dr local who understands the following 1. nickel allergy 2. Dr who does revisions 3 Drwho understands Complex Regional pain. I saw a Dr at Rush in Chicago a colleague of his. He agreed with Southbend Drs and recommended I go to pain management Dr.
I have gone to pain management Dr I can not take gabapentin, or any other pain meds I am super sensitive to medications. We recently tried two sympathic nerve blocks to see if they will work. I have had 10% relief in my foot the rest of my leg nothing.
I am trying to find an Dr who can help me. I am 55 now and was active and I can not ride a bike or walk very far or getting down on ground very hard. I have had two Dr say go to Mayo so, I have filed my paperwork for Mayo and just waiting to hear from Dr's office.
Has any one had similar situation? nickel allergy, 24/ 7 constant pain whole leg had a 3rd revision?
Thanks for anyone's advice!
Attached is a copy of my revision left side is new revision right side is the old one

Has anyone found out after TKR they are allergic to nickel and replacement has? What did you do? Did you find a Dr who understands it? I can not find someone who really understands.

@moprea You could look at this website for information about treatment for immune responses to orthopedic implant materials. Dr. Rea started this field of environmental medicine and was a pioneer in the field of environmental allergies. They treat patients with immune responses to orthopedic implants. https://www.ehcd.com/

It may also involve treating any other allergies if you have them because it just adds up with inflammation in the body. I don't have any joint replacements, but I did have dental work and titanium plates from an ankle fracture surgery that were causing me issues with pain, inflammation, chronic hives and exacerbation of my asthma. After all of that was removed from my body, everything cleared up. I had been doing allergy shots for several years. The old dental work (root canals and crowns) with various metals was removed and replaced with ceramic implants and ceramic teeth. That made a huge difference and all of the old silver dental fillings had also been replaced with safer composites. My asthma got better. I still have seasonal allergies, but the baseline of breathing resistance improved.

You may find help with either an Environmental Medicine doctor or a Functional Medicine doctor. Here are some links where you could search for a provider.

Environmental Medicine Doctors
There is a provider finder link for them at https://www.aaemonline.org/

Functional Medicine Doctors
There is also a provider search at Forum Health for functional medicine doctors.
https://forumhealth.com/

Have you heard of this field of medicine before?

Hi @moprea, I'd like to add my welcome along with @jenniferhunter. I moved your 2 posts to this existing discussion so you can connect with others like you:
- Need TKR and had positive allergy testing / Bone Cement and Metals: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/need-tkr-and-had-positive-allergy-testing-bone-cement-and-metals/

Hello, I had my first TKR in 2019. I had told my Dr I was becoming allergic to things such as hair color, adhesive and he brushed it off as "one in a million" which I later found out thru my own research is more like 30% of women are allergic to especially nickel. After 1 year I was still stiff and had test from Ortho Analysis. I was highly allergic to nickel, mildly to chromium, cobalt, iron and bone cement. There is not alot of research on this I think because Drs want to do surgeries and are rolling the dice on us!!! My knee is stiff all the time but I can live with it. However, it wore on my other knee which I had replaced in Oct. 2022 with a zirconium covered knee which I chose because the cementless has all the metals I was allergic to and since my other knee is holding up I went with that. I have pain & stiffness and foot neuropathy, but I'm living with it but I was very angry for 3 years. I did 3 Ironman in my 60's, several half ironmans, ran Boston Marathon 5 times, etc. I got an Ebike and ride everyday, weather permitting, walk too but biking is easier on my knees. I'm now 67 and happy to be outside and learning to live with limitations. I would go to Mayo Clinic, they are up on new things. Good luck to you!

I am 20 months out from my tkr and still having significant pain with walking any distance, stairs, swimming and biking. Have had two nerve ablations which were effective for less than a week each. Pain doctor has suggested a peripheral nerve stimulator implant. Implant and leads are in your leg, not the spine. Am considering but going to third orthopedic consult this month to see what might be done arthroscopically. One doc said 50-75% chance of success with this. Good luck to everyone on this thread!

can you please move my post to the above discussion also? Thx, denhyg1run