Patients across the country who have received the DePuy hip implant and experienced complications as a result of the device are being asked to volunteer to register with the American Joint Replacement Registry, founded by the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons in March of 2009. Patients who have experienced complications with other hip replacement products are also being urged to register – the registry is not affiliated with any orthopedic production company or brand and aims to collect information related to issues patients are experiencing with their joint replacement devices.
Complications that have been reported in regards to the DePuy hip replacement system include metal poisoning (sometimes known as metallosis), implant dislocation, fracture of the hip bone, and loosening of the implant. These hip implant complications can sometimes lead to a painful and risky procedure to replace the faulty implant, called a hip revision surgery.
Joint replacement systems are tracked in national databases in other countries. Due to the large number of procedures that take place in the United States, the statistics for this country is magnified; almost one million artificial hips and knees were used last year in the United States alone. This is about half of the world’s overall total. However, no registry to track implants and problems existed until the American Joint Replacement Registry was created only two years ago. Prior to this, the Food and Drug Administration was responsible for monitoring these devices, and it still holds some of the responsibility. However, doctors do not often report problems, and the system is overwhelmed by a large number of products and it is difficult to monitor them all.
Registration of implants will enable the registry to become aware of specific problems with the devices and failure rates of individual brands and models, including the systems produced by DePuy. This will also enable early detection of potential problems with certain hip replacement systems.
No comments:
Post a Comment