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Hip revision, metallosis, and peripheral neuropathy
I had my left hip replaced in 2008 (Zimmer Trilogy), and all went well until just over three years later when I began to experience hip and groin pain. Initially, the surgeon felt all was fine, and that x-rays showed a "textbook" hip replacement. The pain worsened until the surgeon finally decided he was going to "fix" the issue by replacing the ball or liner. The subsequent surgical report related a pseudo tumor under significant pressure (which burst in surgery), corrosion and fretting at the morse taper, a "thick prurient" fluid, and locking ring failure. He told me that I had an infection. All of this led to a revision in 2012. Immediately after the revision I began having bilateral leg pain diagnosed as severe peripheral neuropathy, which has now been with me for 12 years. I have had any number of treatments - ivic infusions, ketamine infusions, spinal cord stimulator (which did not help, and was removed), calmare treatments, and various prescriptions (none of which helped). I have also had 5 spinal surgeries, all of which were successful. But, I will always contend that the medical device manufacturer is to blame for the hip failure and ultimate revision. I never had any blood tests to detect cobalt and chromium levels. I'm wondering if my thinking is on point, or if it is just coincidental that the neuropathy appeared as all of the hip problems occurred.
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I received Chrome/Cobalt Hip Resurfacing in 2006 and 2010. Now I am 70 years old. Overall my experience has been very positive. I have participated in extensive backpacking for the last 15 years with no issues, However, I came to realize that I needed to avoid lateral movement validated by trying to play handball and more recently skiing. I did experience some metallosis issues after trying to play handball in 2015. I began taking NAC, N-Acetyl-Cysteine, which I believe took care of the problem. My Chromium and Cobalt levels were reduced. Recently I have experienced the same symptoms of pain around my lower abdomen and hip areas which I am attributing to increased downhill skiing after buying an annual pass to our local ski resort. Today I was flagged for a high Cobalt Serum level of 2.2 which doesn't seem like it should be that serious, however, my pain and discomfort is substantial but it does appear to be improving from 2 weeks of inactivity. I am now wondering if the age of my Resurfaced Hips is coming into play. Does metal fatigue increase as the metal ages? It does appear that I will cut back substantially on my skiing.
I also had the Birmingham Hip Resurfacing done in 2007 and did great with it, continuing my normal active lifestyle until 2022. I never had my metal levels checked through blood work, but while wintering in Florida, developed sepsis and ended up with emergency surgery. Surgeons had to remove my hip joint (Girdlestone) and a lot of muscle due to infection and I am now on lifetime antibiotics for Chronic Osteomyelitis of my femur and pelvis. I have no hip implant now and will never have one. I would recommend you get several opinions as to what's going on, especially if you are having pain too. I really didn't have severe pain until 5 days prior to my surgery. It took 3 different ER visits to 3 different hospitals before they realized what was going on. Wishing you all the best.
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2 ReactionsThanks for your feedback. I will be connecting with an orthopedic doctor this week hoping to set up a good monitoring plan. I am still recovering from my recent incident, although slowly. I did not experience pain while at rest, just during certain movements and that has improved. I walked the dog this morning which felt pretty good.