If you received knee implant surgery, you might have components that are part of the Zimmer Persona knee recall.
The Zimmer Persona Trabecular Metal Tibial Plate is the subject of a Class 2 FDA recall, which is reserved for medications and medical devices that cause temporary or reversible problems.
The FDA’s recall notice came in March 2015, just one month after Zimmer issued a voluntary recall on the part.
The tibial plate is the part that connects to the bone without cement. Instead of using cement, the part has two pegs designed to be inserted directly into the shin bone, known as the tibia. The bone is supposed to grow around these pegs to act as a natural stabilizer.
Zimmer Persona Knee Recall Due to Two Problems
The Zimmer Persona knee recall was necessary because of two main complaints about the knee replacement parts.
X-rays show gaps between the tibial plate and the bone, which indicates “poor seating.” This condition is revealed by the appearance of radiolucent lines that show the plate has moved from its originally intended position, indicating the implant has loosened.
Poor seating can lead to many problems, including fluid retention around the joint. Debris from the wearing down of the implant can make its way into the cracks between the implant plate and the bone. Loose implants can damage the bone as the pegs even slightly move inside the tibia.
The other complaint is that the metal plate completely comes loose from its attached position.
Revision surgery is the only way to cope with the metal plate failure. According to Zimmer, 38 percent of patients who had failed Persona plates had radiolucent lines or underwent revision surgery due to failed parts in the Zimmer Persona knee recall.
Among the problems that led to revision surgery were persistent pain and device loosening. Other reports cited a lack of ingrowth into the bone, loss of fixation into the bone, instability, and patella tracking problems. Inflammation and poor seating also resulted in a tight knee or fracture that led to revision surgery.
Even though knee revision surgery can solve the issues related to the recall, such action can leave a patient at risk for other problems.
Going through a second knee revision surgery can mean a patient is at higher risk for pain and swelling, infection, blood clots, bone loss, fractures, and damage to nerve, tissue or blood vessels. Repeated surgery can also lead to a discrepancy in the length of the patient’s legs.
Nearly 12,000 patients have received implants that include the metal tibial plate covered in the Zimmer Persona knee recall.
If you are not sure whether your knee implant is covered by this recall notice, you can check an x-ray if you have a copy of one. You will see the pegs on the bottom of the metal plate that attach to the tibia. If you still are unsure, a lawyer who has experience with Zimmer Persona knee recalls can help you determine if your implant is affected by this recall.
Do YOU have a legal claim? Fill out the form on this page now for a free, immediate, and confidential case evaluation. The hip implant attorneys who work with Top Class Actions will contact you if you qualify to let you know if an individual lawsuit or class action lawsuit is best for you. [In general, metal hip implant lawsuits are filed individually by each plaintiff and are not class actions.] Hurry — statutes of limitations may apply.
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I have a hinged rotating left knee prosthetic. In 2022 a bone scan revealed loosening of the implant. The surgeon disregarded my complaint of left knee pain and disruption of ability to walk. In December of 2025 my left knee prosthetic started to slip within it’s seating, feeling like it was coming apart and snapping back in. I went to Vanderbilt University Hospital ER as the doctor who put this implant in me works at that hospital. Upon their ex-rays and 17 hours of sitting at the hospital and seeing 5 different doctors they decided nothing was wrong with me, acting as if I was making a false claim or complaint of prosthetic malfunctioning. They sent me all the way back home to Mayfield Kentucky. I suffered from December 2025 till March 17th of excruciating pain and prosthetic slippage with it feeling like it was coming apart and then snapping back together. Upon March 17th I knew I was in big trouble, I stood to walk to my bathroom but fell. My knee had popped out and would not go back in and I couldn’t walk. The pain was intolerable. My family’s car was in the shop. I had to call an ambulance and go to a local ER in Kentucky, with the hopes that they would transfer me to Vanderbilt University Hospital for treatment. The local hospital I picked is the best we offer here around my house and it isn’t that good. I picked Western Baptist Hospital in Paducah Ky. When they ex-rayed my left knee prosthetic they also downloaded comparison ex-rays from December ER visit. Western Baptist Hospital informed me that absolutely everything looked the same and I was fine, and Upon relaying this to Vanderbilt University Hospital they will not accept me for transport to them. Western Baptist Hospital released me from their care to walk out of the hospital and I never heard from them again. I had an appointment with the surgeon who put this implant into coming up on April 9th so as he was getting ready for my next day appointment he saw new ex-rays done locally to me and looked at them. On April 8th his nurse contacted me via my chart to inform “Please let patient know that I reviewed her x-rays for her upcoming visit with me that she had taken at an outside hospital in March. These show that she broke the screw that holds the tibial plastic insert in place sometime after her December x-ray at Vanderbilt.” Upon that message he decided that he was handing my case off to a surgeon that was taking over old surgeons surgery cases. As of tonight I finally got my hands on the actual ex-rays from December abd also March. There is absolutely no way the local hospital Western Baptist couldn’t see the giant screw sticking out of the center of my knee that holds my whole knee together. I still am not able to know if anybody plans to fix this. I have had to be completely bed bound and not able to walk at all since March. Vanderbilt expects me to come to a regular surgery consult tomorrow afternoon on April 7th. The pain and agony I have suffered from hospital and doctor negligence and lack of care to even examine my ex-rays so I could have been transferred to Vanderbilt University Hospital on March 17th and been admitted into hospital for surgery revision is unacceptable. And absolutely no doctor informed me that this was a recall part and to avoid issues I sould have it fixed pryer. No, they literally let the part completely break and then have left me at home to suffer for an unimaginable amout of time considering what is wrong. At no point with either sitting in bed or laying in bed does my prosthetic knee not constantly come apart and then if I’m lucky it very harshly go back to some-what of where it should be placed or aligned. Literally my leg should be one whole peice but with the failure of this prosthetic my leg is consistently coming apart into 2 peices due to the main post that holds my knee together being broken.