Personal Injury Law

DePuy hip devices? failure rate may be higher in women

Recently released data from the National Joint Registry of England and Wales shows that women are more likely than men to require a second hip replacement surgery after receiving one of the recalled DePuy hip device. As our readers are well-aware, DePuy recalled its ASR Hip Resurfacing System and ASR XL Acetabular System total hip replacements in August 2010 after the devices were linked to higher than normal failure rates. Now, a recent study found that the hip size of the receiving patient also plays a role in how soon a revision surgery may be required. The risk of revision is highest in patients who have ASR femoral head sizes below 50 mm in diameter, which affected mostly female patients.

The recalled DePuy hip implants had been sold internationally for more than six years and more than 90,000 people have undergone hip replacement surgeries with the ASR hip systems. Common complications associated with the recalled hip placements include a loosening of the implant with the body, bone fracture near the implant site, dislocation of the implant that causes a misalignment of hip components and metallosis, a condition caused by the metal-on-metal rubbing of the recalled hip implant. One in every eight DePuy hip replacement patients, an outstanding number, will need to undergo revision surgery within five years of the original operation.

Full post as published by Illinois Injury Lawyer Blog on January 02, 2011 (boomark / email).