Posted , 5 users are following.
Has anyone had or have heard of tantalum allergy? My neurosurgeon is considering the alloy tantalum since I was allergic to nickel for my surgery and was wondering since I don't know if there is a test that exists for tantalum and since I heard it was an inert.
0 likes, 5 replies
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mike48411 grapes1800
Posted
Hopefully you have already received an answer to your question of 5 months ago. I'm a medical writer (not a doctor) who will retire in a few days after 32 years of writing scientific articles in the dental industry. Anyone with a suspected metal allergy should first be cleared by an allergist before receiving a metal implant. While tantalum and titanium are both highly passive (low liklihood of triggering an immune response), and are often substituted for patients allergic to other metals, there are reports of allergic reactions to tantalum and titanium in the medical literature. In fact, all metals may potentially trigger an immune response in different patients. Best wishes for your condition.
lordbo grapes1800
Posted
I have been with tantalum in medical devices for 20 years. I have seen no suggestion for tantalum allergy in the literature. You may read more about the biocompatibility of tantalum here: http://x-medics.com/tantalum-biocompatibility/
Su2 grapes1800
Posted
Hi
New one on me. I'm allergic to nickel. Found out just how sensitive when wearing a piece of jewellery containing nickel. Embarrassing, I had a cross shape burnt into skin! Too sore to cover up. If I come across anything about Tantalum will pass it on. I can ask a general question in the other forums I belong to.
Su2 grapes1800
Posted
Hi again. I've had a quick Google. There are a few medical articles about people having reactions to Tantalum when it has been used in surgical implants, urticaria being one reaction mentioned. Hope this helps
monte3315 grapes1800
Posted
Hi.. I realize this is a 3 year old thread but thought my experience may help someone. I had total shoulder replacement in Jan 2021. Soon afterwards I experienced severe exercise/stress related itching (no welts). These would subside as I continued exercising. I'm an engineer (so I understand how to run and evaluate experiments) so tracked many factors that I thought may be the cause and none panned out. (topicals, pain meds, soap, amount of sleep, clothes detergent, etc). antihistamines (both OTC and prescription) had no effect, even at extremely high doses. I'm 4 months since surgery and it's improving slowly. My implant is Tantalum. I'm not sure if the implant is the cause, but for sure SOMETHING related to the surgery IS the cause. I'm a bodybuilder and have been weight training since 1978 and had never experienced this itching until after the surgery. My only known allergy is to sulfa meds. Anyway, that's FWIW..