Late effect of surgery: Prosthesis Problems

[Mary]

I recently came across a very clear article that explains why our artificial joints may need to be replaced over time, and why our doctors sometimes give us a "wear-out" time period.

The Painful Joint Prosthesis (Loosening & Infection)

This study has some interesting statistics about results of endoprostheses used for bone tumor patients.


Basic Information about Prosthesis Infection
Infection of a Joint Replacement
Understand more about infections: this is about knees but would apply to other joints too

How Often Does Infection Occur with Bone Cancer Joint Replacements?
Periprosthetic infection in patients treated for an orthopaedic oncological condition

How is Prosthesis Infection Diagnosed?
Diagnosis of orthopaedic prosthesis infections with radionuclide techniques
A current clinical trial for imaging painful joint prosthesis and detecting infection/loosening/recurrence

How is the infection treated?
Trends in the Treatment of Orthopaedic Prosthetic Infections
Treatment of Total Knee Infection

More medical information about prosthetic infections
Staphylococcal Infections
More medical information on Prosthesis Infections

[Cari]

WOW that was interesting thanks Mary

[Mike]

I sometimes wish that I could get a Full Body Transplant. I wonder what the Wear Out Date would be on that?

Good info Mary!!!

Mike Smith

[Mary]

By Steven Gitelis, MD; Jeffrey D. Yergler, MD; Neal Sawlani, BS; Adam Schiff, BS; Susan Shott, PhD
ORTHOPEDICS 2008; 31:362  April 2008
Abstract

This retrospective study investigated the modes of implant failure in 80 patients with modular oncology knee prostheses. Twenty patients (25%) required revision: 12 (60%) for stem loosening, 6 (30%) for bearing failure, and 2 (10%) for infection. Patients with bone sarcomas survived longer; however, long-term prosthetic survivorship was a problem. A higher failure rate was found in patients with tibial tumors and with adjuvant treatment of chemotherapy. This study demonstrates for improved long-term survivorship of modular oncology knee prostheses, there must be improvement in the methods of stem fixation, prosthetic materials, and bearing mechanics.

Read more here.