A man from Louisiana recently filed an Exactech knee lawsuit, which alleges he suffered serious device complications due to defects in his knee replacement. The claimant reportedly experienced significant pain, which eventually required revision surgery on his left knee to have the Exactech Optetrak Implant removed.

Plaintiff Michael B. says he underwent total left knee replacement surgery on May 12, 2016, during which the Exactech Optetrak knee prosthetic had been implanted. However, Michael reportedly began suffering severe debilitating pain due to swelling of the left knee and was reportedly determined to be an infection caused by an Exactech Optetrak component.

Due to the severity of the injuries, Michael says he had to undergo revision surgery on his left knee on April 10, 2018, and required long periods of hospitalization for his recovery. According to the Exactech knee lawsuit, the infection was caused by the tibial baseplate loosening from its position in the implant.

The surgeons noted that the patella had significantly worn down and that the tibial insert had been producing wear debris. Furthermore, Michael says it was determined in the surgery that his injuries were allegedly caused by polyethylene wear of the tibial insert, tibial base plate, and other defective device components of the Exactech Optetrak implant.

This reportedly caused the premature knee replacement failure, with Michael most likely having to face a second revision surgery in the future.

Michael opted to file an Exactech knee lawsuit soon after discovering that his injuries were allegedly caused by the defective tibial plate and that the FDA had received numerous injury reports from patients indicating similar incidents.

Overview of Exactech Implant Complications

The Exactech Optetrak knee implant became available to the public in 1994 and has been recommended to numerous patients needing to undergo knee replacement surgery.

Millions of people have undergone knee replacement surgery, but patients have been allegedly suffering from the effects of device failure from certain knee replacement prostheses.

The FDA has recently been receiving injury reports of Exactech Optetrak knee replacements prematurely failing. According to the injury reports, the device failures were reportedly caused by tibial insert wear and tear of the device.

According to a study by Orthopaedics & Traumatology: Surgery & Research, researchers noted that Exactech Optetrak was performing in 110 prostheses in 106 patients for 25 months after the patients’ surgeries. The study collected the following results:

• 15% of patients reported being unsatisfied with the prosthetic
• 22% of patients reported pain and needing to regularly take painkillers
• 22% of patients stated they suffered from the effects of tibial implant loosening
• 21% of patients had signs of patellofemoral conflict
• 13 patients needed revision surgery for tibial loosening, patellofemoral instability or patellofemoral pain

According to the Exactech knee lawsuit, there was no way for Michael to discover this information until after his revision surgery in 2018.

At all times relevant, Michael and his physicians relied on the marketing materials provided by Exactech and had no way of knowing the allegedly defective nature of the Optetrak knee implant. Michael is seeking a multitude of damages in his claim, including negligence and failure to warn.

This Knee Replacement Lawsuit is Case No. 2:19-cv-09157-BWA-KWR, in the U.S. District Court of Eastern Louisiana.

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