Metal on metal bi-lateral THR- high metal levels in blood but scared of Revision

HI Julie,

I was in a similar situation to you. I had a hip replacement in 2008 due to an accident and in 2012 had to have it revised due to the fact that I had an incredibly high levels of metal ions in my blood and I had a pseudo tumour in my leg and dead tissue in my hip due to the metal on metal implant. I did not have any other symptoms though such as head aches etc.

I was very worried about the hip revision operation, but everything turned out fine. I had to spend 6 weeks partially weight bearing after the operation as I had to have bone grafting in my hip but after that I recovered fairly quickly. I went back to my job as a school teacher 4 months after the operation and I managed to cope without any problems

I have now retired as I am 62 but I do not have any issues. I can walk as far as I wish and do everything that I want to do. Ocasionally, I suffer from odd muscle aches if I overdo things but generally I am fine.

I think that is important to have a surgeon who is experienced in hip revision operations.

Please contact me if you have any further worries.

Chrissie

Speak to a lawyer they have recalls on these type of hip replacements and have this taken care of because your health is MOST IMPORTANT !!!! GOOD LUCK !!

I agree with Jimmy.  If you're here in the US, there are many attorneys who are handling the recall cases.  Stryker is the biggest manufacturer they're suing or have sued.  DePuy is another company.  Just Google hip replacement recall.  You'll find lots of info.

Hi Julie,

I am recovering from a revision op due to metal on metal implant. (Iam in the UK). My blood cobalt and chromium levels were not all that high, but the surgeon told me that if the cobalt is significantly higher than the chrome, it was more likely that the implant would fail (he'd been to some conference in the US where he found this out).

After the op, he said the implant wouldn't have lasted more than 6 months and if I had left it any longer it would have been much harder to fix. There was some bone loss and, like Christine, I had bone grafts and couldn't put weight on that leg for 7 weeks. It is now 12 weeks later, I am back at work though not full time yet and am still walking with one crutch. I am being quite cautious this time around!

All last year I had quite bad fatigue, muscle weakness, brain fog - bad enough for me to need time off work sometimes and definitely a struggle when I was there. I don't know yet whether that was caused by the metal, it's a bit too early to say, though I suspect it was at least partly the cause.

Any operation is scary, and revisions do seem to need a longer recovery for most people. But I would say go for it, the risks seem lesser than leaving metal in your body which is causing a reaction or possible long term damage. Have you had an MRI scan or anything, which might show what is happening in that joint?

Good luck with whatever you decide.

Jean