Surgeons cautioned about large diameter metal on metal hips
Published date : 08 March 2011
Article date : 08 March 2011
The British Orthopaedic Association and British Hip Society today published a statement about large diameter metal on metal bearing hip replacements. Several series presented at the British Hip Society Conference demonstrated high revision rates – with the ASR device demonstrating a 49% 6 year revision rate, and others a rate of 12-15% at 5 years. This is in keeping with data already included in the 7th UK National Joint Registry Report.
Possible reasons for failure included damage at the taper junction between the large head and the stem, wear at the bearing surface and stem corrosion (of uncemented stems). The need to follow up patients for a minimum of five years and possibly the life of the prosthesis was emphasized, and surgeons were cautioned about further implantation of these devices.
