Hip replacement patients do not expect to have their metal hip replacement recalled. However, over 10,000 hip replacement devices were affected in the recent DePuy ASR hip recall.

What is the DePuy ASR Hip Replacement System?

The DePuy ASR hip replacement system is a metal-on-metal hip system. What this means is that both parts of the ball-in-socket hip implant are metal.

In a natural hip, the top of the main leg bone, the femur, connects to the pelvis. The top of the femur, called the femoral head, is like a ball that fits into a socket, called the acetabulum, in the pelvis. This ball rotates and moves inside the acetabulum to form the hip joint.

In a metal-on-metal hip replacement, a metal cup called an acetabular cup is placed within the acetabulum on the pelvis. A metal ball replaces the femoral head and is connected to the femur by a metal stem.

Often, patients who have this type of device experience complications such as tissue inflammation at the implant site and metallosis.

Metal-on-metal hip implants like the DePuy ASR can shed metal shards into the surrounding tissue and blood causing any of a number of problems including the need for revision surgery.

A metal hip implant is supposed to last the patient for up to 20 years. However, many patients with the DePuy ASR system have needed revision surgery far sooner. Revision surgery is a much more risky surgery with the potential of many more complications than the original hip replacement surgery.

History of the DePuy ASR Hip Recall

In 2005, the DePuy ASR hip system became available for U.S. patients and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration allowed the devices to be implanted without the regular clinical trials usually required for new medical devices.

An independent national registry in the UK found that about 12% of DePuy ASR hip implant patients needed revision surgery within five years because of device failure or other complications.

Consequently, the medical device manufacturers issued a voluntary DePuy ASR hip recall later that year that affected thousands of devices.

Metal-on-Metal Hip Implant Complications

Metal-on-metal hip implants, like the DePuy ASR system, can cause many problems which can lead to the need for hip revision surgery. Additionally, many patients who experience these problems file lawsuits against the medical device makers claiming that they were not warned that their hip implant could lead to so many problems.

The main issue with metal-on-metal hip implants, and what is behind the DePuy ASR hip recall, is the fact that the metal femoral head rubs the acetabular cup during patient movement and metal ions and shards are released into the tissue and blood surrounding the device.

This can cause non-cancerous cysts, metallosis, tissue infection, and device failure. Other problems have been associated with the DePuy ASR system including dislocation of the hip implant, heterotopic ossification, or the calcification of soft tissue, hip infection and osteolysis, or the loss of bone around the replacement.

If you or someone you love has a metal hip implant that qualifies for the DePuy ASR hip recall and has suffered complications or the need for revision surgery, you may be entitled to legal compensation.