The Food and Drug Administration has consolidated various complaints about metal on metal hip implants on their website to provide information to consumers who may have received these devices and suffered after the fact.

Any artificial hip implant, according to the FDA, carries a risk of wear and tear of the component material. However, metal on metal implants also have their own unique risk factors in addition to the typical risks presented by any hip implant.

Metal on metal hip implants have been associated with wear and tear problems due to the metal ball and metal cup sliding against one another during the process of running or walking. Furthermore, these metal hip implants can cause a release of metal ions in the location in which the two implant components connect.

The metal release can reportedly cause these small metal particles to wear into the space surrounding the implant. When these metal particles separate from the metal implant and enter the bloodstream, serious complications can result.

Different patients have varying reactions to the metal particles, and not every patient will have the same reaction to a metal hip implant. However, a growing number of people have filed adverse event reports directly with the FDA or filed individual lawsuits because of adverse local tissue reaction or a condition also known as an adverse reaction to metal debris.

This reaction can damage soft tissue within the patient’s body and cause device failure, implant loosening, pain, or even the need for comprehensive revision surgery. Symptoms for metal hip implant patients to be aware of, that could indicate a more serious issue, include local swelling, groin and hip pain, changes in the ability to walk or numbness.

According to the FDA, there are many different reasons that a patient might present with these symptoms which is why a surgeon should be contacted immediately after the implantation procedure if these develop.

Unfortunately, many of these devices have high failure rates. A failure rate in the device could cause the patient who received it to have to go back through revision surgery to replace the failed device.

Implant failure is most frequently associated with bone loss and unfortunately, according to the Arthritis Foundation, these are well-documented problems with metal on metal hip implants.

A research article published in the journal, Biomaterials, also indicated that metal debris that breaks off from the implant could impact the body’s ability to generate new bone. For these reasons, metal on metal hip implants reportedly have a much larger failure rate than hip implants generated from other materials.

According to the study published in Biomaterials, the erosion of the bone in the patient’s hip joint can ultimately lead to the need for revision surgery and artificial joint loosening. To identify these outcomes, the researchers with that study looked at the bone marrow tissue, blood and joint fluids for 18 different patients who had to undergo revision surgery for a failed metal on metal implant. Each of these cases led to the discovery of major levels of metal ions that had dissolved near the implant, indicating breakdown and distribution.

If you or someone you know has already dealt with a failed implant, you may have grounds to pursue compensation with the help of an attorney.