If you or a loved one experienced complications after having a Zimmer Persona TM Tibial Plate used in a knee replacement between 2012 and 2015, you may have a legal claim.

In March 2015, Zimmer recalled the Zimmer Persona Trabecular Metal Tibial Plate, a component of a knee replacement implant, after numerous reports that problems with the device were causing it to loosen or move from its original position. If you experienced these complications, joining a Zimmer tibial plate failure lawsuit could help you recover damages from financial, emotional, and physical injuries you may have suffered. 

Reports that led up to the recall suggest that Zimmer tibial plate failure may occur when the device loosens or move from where it is positioned in the bone. In knee replacements, some loosening can occur after many years of use. However, patients claim that the Zimmer tibial plate shifts after only a few months or years of use, alleging that the device is defective.

Evidence of loosening can be seen in X-rays, where gaps appear between the tibial implant and the natural bone.

In other cases, the plate moves horizontally from where it was placed, This occurrence is called “poor seating” of the device. In X-rays of a tibial plates with “poor seating,” radiolucent lines, or gaps will appear between where the device is currently located and where it started.

However, before patients have X-rays done of the knee implant to see that it is defective, many patients with loosening or shifting tibial implants state that they experienced a range of symptoms. Some of the symptoms patients have reported after having a Zimmer Personal Trabecular Metal Tibial Plate installed include:

• inflammation
• knee tightness
• knee instability
• loss of mobility
• persistent pain
• bone fracture
• patella tracking issues
• loss of fixation

The loosening and shifting of the tibial plate occurs when the device doesn’t adequately attach to the bone. In the cases of many knee implants, the tibial plate is attached to the bone with cement. However, in the case of the Zimmer Persona Trabecular Metal Tibial Plate, the device is not attached with cement. It is attached to the tibia via two pegs that are inserted into the bone. These pegs are supposed to then “grow” into the bone over time and give stability to the implant.

In some cases, the device does not attach to the bones as it should, according to patient reports. In February 2015, Zimmer issued a recall of almost 12,000 tibial plates. Many people who had had the Zimmer Persona Trabecular Metal Tibial Plate installed during their knee replacement had to have a revision surgery to replace the tibial plate.

Revision surgery can be risky, because it is associated with more complications than an initial surgery. With a revision surgery, a patient’s risk of experiencing the following risks goes up:

• leg length discrepancies
• infection
• pain and swelling
• nerve, tissue, or blood vessel damage
• blood loss
• blood clots
• fractures

If you had a Zimmer Persona Trabecular Metal Tibial Plate installed and then had to have a revision surgery to replace it, filing a Zimmer tibial plate failure lawsuit could help you receive compensation for injury and hardship associated with the device’s possible defect.