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Hip revision due to metal on metal ions.

Posted by sailaway @sailaway, Dec 10, 2019

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.

Mentor
Sue, Volunteer Mentor | @sueinmn | Aug 27, 2020
In reply to @sailaway "Hi Itsally, my husband had his 2nd MARS MRI which showed that the large area of..." + (show)
@sailaway

Hi Itsally, my husband had his 2nd MARS MRI which showed that the large area of inflammation, with debris in it, around his right hip was unchanged from 8 months ago. Dr. says this will not resolve on its own and will perform "minimally invasive" surgery to replace the metal ball with ceramic. The hip itself only gives pain when doing heavy lifting; both parts seem to be solidly implanted and have never given him trouble. Husband is concerned about generalized joint pain and aches throughout rest of his body- usually level 4-5 daily. Wondering if this is related to ion levels: cobalt is trending upward at 21.1 and chromium in 12-14 range. Dr says it is up to husband how long he is willing to put up with this situation. And now there is Covid and continuing to age- 79 in March. Good luck with making our decisions!

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@sailaway – The constant joint pain and aches got better for me when the metal ion levels began to go down after surgery, and were gone within less than a year. The inflammation & "debris field" improved within the first 3 months.
Sue

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