Beware of faulty hip replacement parts

-Telegraph Journal

07/15/2009 - Patty Owen is only 41 years old, but has just had her right hip replaced for the third time.

Three years ago she went in to have an artificial hip replaced that had kept her going for 18 years because it had simply worn out. But since 2006 she has been in constant pain and unable to return to work.

Owen recently learned that U.S.-based Stryker corporation, which manufactured hip replacement parts sold under the Trident name, recalled some of those parts in January 2008. She has hospital documents with bar codes showing that Trident parts were used in her surgery in 2006.

Although she had several x-rays since 2006, it wasn't until a couple of months ago the most recent pictures showed the parts were not aligned properly, she said.

"Anyone who has had anything done with hip revision or knee implants, and knows these parts were used, and if they are having pain, they should look into this," Owen said.

She expects most people who have worn out a hip replacement are a lot older than she is and may not be able to speak out.

"How many of them are out there suffering and not knowing why?" she asked.

Owen is no stranger to hip pain. As a young girl she was diagnosed with Legg Perthes Disease which causes circulation to the ball part of the hip joint to cut in and out. As a result the femur became damaged and flattened out, she said.

"I spent a year and a half in casts, A-frame shaped casts," she said, pulling out a picture of her as an eight-year-old, her legs covered in plaster.

"My hip bone was literally flat and jagged all around the edges, instead of round, and every time I would bend, more and more would chip away, so they put the cast on to stop it from doing that," she said.

Owen had her first hip replacement done at the age of 20.

"Dr. Mitton did it and I was great," she said. "I had an 11-month-old baby and I went home to him and within a couple of weeks I was back on my feet."

Within a month she was back at work and then over the next few years had two more children. When she was in her late 30s, X-rays started to show small hairline fractures in the replacement hip, which she was told would wear out in 15 to 20 years.

In 2006, Owen was working at Value Village, on her feet all day, when her doctor finally convinced her to have the replacement done.

"From six months after the surgery, I kept saying something wasn't right," Owen said.

But the doctors couldn't see anything on the X-rays to account for it. She did six months of physiotherapy with no improvements and eventually was told it must be nerve damage so they started to treat her for that. Owen was never able to return to work and had to start disability benefits from Canada Pension.

In April of this year a new doctor ordered a full bone scan and X-rays, said her husband Richard.

"That's where it literally showed that the Titanium screws were busted," Patty said.

Owen said the socket was lying sideways on her joint. She has since read on the Internet that the Stryker parts used in hip revisions have a failure rate of 16.4 per cent.

She hopes the latest surgery will put her back to where she was three years ago.

"I would like to go back to work and get my life back," she said.

If you or a loved one have experienced any of the symptoms listed above you may be entitled to compensation. Contact the Stryker Hip Implant attorneys of Ennis & Ennis today for a free confidential case evaluation. Our on staff nurse and lawyers are standing by to answer any questions you may have regarding the Stryker Hip Implants, a possible Stryker class action lawsuit, or any other type of Stryker litigation.