Recovering Process from Hip Replacement Surgery

To have timely healing the rehabilitation process should start early for patients who underwent an invasive surgical procedure such as a hip replacement surgery. Physical therapy is important since this allows the patient to strengthen the muscles around the hip joint. This also preventsany unwanted complications from the surgery, including contractures. There are other complications among those who underwent a hip replacement operation. Some recipients report that they experienced premature failure of their hip implants which lead to loosening of the hip device, and dislocation of the acetabular cups which usually causes fracture of the surrounding bones. These could be indications for a revision surgery, which could mean added expenses. Two hip products by DePuy Orthopaedics Inc., a subsidiary company of Johnson & Johnson, which are the ASR XL Acetabular System and DePuy ASR Hip Resurfacing System werebelieved to cause premature hip prostheses failure. In 2010, DePuy hip replacement recall was issued. Meanwhile, the Britain’s Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is calling for a policy decision for patients to be provided lifetime hip replacement checkups, Reuters reports.

After surgery, patients are often encouraged to perform physical activities such as sitting up as long as it is tolerable. Moving their extremities allows good blood circulation and prevents blood clot occlusion. Other than this, changing body position every two hours is also indicated. Painful bed sores may be prevented through changing the positions. The use of a pillow between the legs when the patient lies on the non-operated side is suggested. The operated extremity should not cross over the midline of the body because the hip prostheses could be dislocated, and for this reason, placing a pillow between the legs is important.

As the recovery period progresses, the patients are introduced to other activities. Stepping, walking and climbing are some the activities done. Supportive devices such as cane, walker and crutches are also used. The hip joint must not be strained to avoid contractures since, when the tendons and ligaments are not utilized for a long time, they could shorten, impeding normal range of motion. An occupational therapist or a physical therapist is there to guide the patient in the gradual sessions of physical therapy. The doctor handling patients regularly check the surgical site for any complications. It is important to know the signs of infection, such as swelling, warmth, redness, and increased pain of the surgical site. When any of these signs are present, it is important to consult a healthcare provider immediately.

Outpatient physical therapy and some exercises are often performed at home when the patient has been discharged from the hospital. The main goal is to regain total autonomy within a few days after release from the hospital and to continue the process of recovery by following instructions. There are instances, though, where patients experience complications. One of the reported reasons for this is the use of defective hip replacement implant such as the products involved in the DePuy hip replacement recall.

 References:
• businessweek.com/news/2011-05-03/medical-groups-tracking-hip-knee-implants-after-j-j-recall.html
• usrecallnews.com/2010/09/depuy-hip-replacement-recalled-asr-artificial-hip-systems.html
• nytimes.com/2010/08/27/business/27hip.html
• tga.gov.au/newsroom/btn-dupuy-recall.htm

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Hip Replacement Surgery Problems

Medical and legal experts estimate that hip failures may cost taxpayers, insurers, employers and others billions of dollars in coming years, contributing to the soaring cost of health care.  The New York Times reported about the costly sum of hip replacement surgeries.

DePuy Orthopaedics, Inc. is recently facing various lawsuits filed by law firms in UK, US and Australia, in behalf of patients who underwent hip replacement operations. DePuy is a subsidiary company of Johnson and Johnson, which issued a worldwide recall of their products.

There are around 93,000 recipients of the ASR XL Acetabular System and the ASR Hip Resurfacing System worldwide. After the release of data presenting defectiveness in one out of eight patients to whom they were implanted, the two devices were pulled back.  Factory production and sale of the two prosthetic items started in 2003.

DePuy took the implants out from the Australian market  in December 2009. In August 2010, DePuy carried out a worldwide recall. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have taken notice of negative feedback from DePuy clients between 2008 and the time of its recall announcement. Many of these clients need a second hip replacement surgery.

The Director of the National Joint Replacement Registry in Australia, Dr. Stephen Graves, says “It is a complete untruth that DePuy did not have reason to withdraw the ASR before now; we have been telling them since 2007, but they allowed it to be used on thousands of people.”

Legal professionals say that several clients have initiated court actions against Johnson and Johnson.  They were the suffering victims of DePuy product failures and defects, among them displacements, fractures and loosening.

The signs of artificial hip device defect include:

• Swelling
• Pain bearing weight
• Pain when rising from a seated position
• Pain while walking
• Pain on the thigh or groin area
• Pain on the hip area

Extreme cases happen wherein the hip products completely fail, resulting in more critical heath issues. This happens when:

• the device is not attached to the bone correctly;
• the unit is dislocated and misaligned;
• the bone around the implant is fractured.

Moreover, defective hip devices may deposit tiny pieces of toxic metal into the patient’s bloodstream. The body tissues may possibly develop pseudotumors.

According to legal observers, the DePuy hip replacement recall should serve as a lesson to other device manufacturers to strengthen and certify the safety of their products.

References:
bloomberg.com/news/2010-09-03/johnson-johnson-sued-over-recalled-implanted-hip-replacement-devices.html
arthritistoday.org/news/asr-depuy-hip-replacement-recall078.php
nursinghomesabuseblog.com/defective-products/defects-with-depuy-hip-replacement-hardware-may-be-responsible-for-complications-following-hip-surgury/

DePuy Settlement: Things To Consider

Twelve to thirteen percent of DePuy hip replacement recipients require a hip revision surgery in response to the recall made on the defective devices last August 2010. Judge Katz, presiding judge of the Multidistrict Litigation for the hip recall cases, issued a preservation order on the explanted DePuy implants to prevent them from getting tampered with. A collective sigh of relief could almost be heard from the plaintiffs of the case.