No More Metal on Metal Hips!
NHS hospitals are to be banning metal-on-metal implants due to 17,000 patients have found their implant to have failed.
Stephen Cannon, a consultant surgeon for the Royal National Orthopedic Hospital, has agreed with the outcome.
He said: “I think there is a question about whether it goes far enough, but this is definitely a step in the right direction — it amounts to a ban on most of them.
“The figures speak for themselves — even the best metal-on-metals have four times the failure rate of the rest. This is a really significant problem because these were given to an awful lot of people.”
Martyn Porter, past president of the British Orthopedic Association, said: “It first started to become apparent among surgeons about three years ago.
“We were starting to see high revision rates but this is like watching a car crash in slow motion — at first, you just don’t know how bad it is going to be.”
He said the scale of the problem was “extremely disappointing”. He said: “These devices, which were supposed to be innovative, had such poor results.”
Mr Porter said any patients who suspected problems with a metal-on-metal device should see their doctor.
“The important thing is identifying and investigating the cases where there are problems because if you leave it too long it can cause tissue destruction.”
