How Would You Know if Your Hip Replacement Is Failing?
Getting your hip replaced can reduce hip pain dramatically and improve your ability to perform the activities of daily living. According to OrthoInfo from the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons:
“Hip replacement surgery is one of the most successful operations in all of medicine.”
Like any other procedure, however, total hip replacements can fail, especially when surgeons use defective devices like Stryker and DePuy hip replacements.
When this happens, surgery meant to decrease pain and improve mobility can result in:
- Significant pain and discomfort
- Infections
- And additional surgical procedures
How Long Are Hip Replacements Supposed to Last?
Hip replacements are designed to last for 15 to 20 years, so if you notice your hip replacement is starting to fail earlier, you should seek medical attention immediately. You may also want to consider speaking with an attorney, like the ones at the Rash Mueller to help explain how to know if your hip replacement is failing.
Signs of Hip Replacement Failure
Signs your hip replacement is failing could include:
- Loosening or instability
- Infection
- Frequent or recurring hip dislocations
- And hip fractures
If you received a metal hip replacement, you might also experience an allergic reaction. Stryker’s metal-on-metal hip replacements, in particular, can corrode and cause significant health problems.
What Are the Symptoms of Hip Replacement Failure?
The symptoms associated with hip replacement failure include:
- Pain
- Popping or clicking sounds
- The sensation that your joint is moving in and out of its socket
- Full or partial hip dislocation
- Redness
- Swelling
- Instability
- Drainage
- Wounds that do not heal
- Severe pain in and around the hip and groin
- Inability to walk
- Weakness
- Inability to move your leg
- One leg is noticeably shorter than the other
What to Do if You Are Experiencing Symptoms of Hip Replacement Failure
If you experience any of these symptoms, talk to your healthcare provider as soon as you can. Keep in mind that serious infections may require immediate treatment. Visit an emergency room if you have an extended fever, severe muscle aches and fatigue, nausea or vomiting, and diarrhea in addition to any of the symptoms listed above.
Metal Allergies and Hip Replacements
Even though doctors no longer use metal-on-metal hip replacements, keep an eye out for metal allergies. Sometimes, these emerge over time as older implants corrode, and in others, patients have a sensitivity to metal components in regular replacement joints.
Large areas of swelling, skin discoloration and rashes, itching around the joint, and joint pain and stiffness are all signs of an allergic reaction to your replacement joint.
What If My Hip Replacement Fails?
If your hip replacement fails, you will need a revision surgery in which your surgeon replaces parts of your original joint replacement or installs a brand-new prosthetic hip. Fortunately, only about 10% of total hip replacements require revision surgery.
In some situations, your bone will not grow correctly onto the components of your hip replacement, and hip replacements wear down over time. That being said, most hip replacements last, and failure could be the result of a defective product.
Revision surgeries are expensive and painful, and if you need a procedure because your original implant was defective, you should not have to suffer the consequences alone.
Instead, talk to our class action and mass tort attorneys about what went wrong. If your hip replacement was defective, Rash Mueller will help you hold the manufacturer accountable and recover compensation for your revision surgery and other losses.
Our legal team consists of fierce, trial-tested advocates, and we will begin fighting beside you as soon as you schedule your free consultation at (954) 914-7116 or online.