Children with Hip, Thigh Implants At Risk of Bone Fracture, Study Says
In over 7,500 bone implants for almost 15 years, children who obtain hip and thigh implants could be at risk for future bone fractures of the bones that the implants were designed to treat,says the John Hopkins' Children Center.
It was found out that nine out of 1,000 hip and thigh implants were associated to hip and thigh fractures,
though this number may seem low but as what the researchers said, it was 15 times higher than the risk for implant-related fractures in other bones. They think that it is best for the orthopedic surgeons to maybe ponder upon the notion of removing the implants after a few years from the operation or perhaps when the bone has healed entirely.
Paul Sponseller, director of orthopedic surgery at Johns Hopkins Children's Center, said that removing the implant early and as soon as the bone heals is a clever consideration for all children with hip and thigh implants, but even more so for patients with already weak bone structure.
Moreover, researchers note that hip and thigh bones have the highest stress because their shape changes quickly during growth, so removing these implants may be particularly significant for children.
Some of the reasons why children undergo hip or thigh implant include traumatic injuries and repetitive stress injuries, indulging in strenuous physical activities and not doing warm-up exercises may also cause ligament tears, sprains, pulled hamstring or strained quadriceps muscle which in turn may trigger pain in the posterior or outer region of the thigh, and anterior. Also, due to medical conditions that may of a serious nature.
Fractures around implants pose exceptional fixation challenges. The original placement of the implant may predispose to later fracture, the long-term existence of the device may alter the structure of the bone and increase vulnerability to fracture, and the implant itself may affect with healing or the placement of other fixation devices.
Hip implant devices carry some other complications as well such as inflammation, pain, loosening of the implant, and metallosis. Just like the case of Stryker hip device recall. Some of its patients suffered metal poisoning.
"To remove or not remove an otherwise asymptomatic implant has been a long-standing question in orthopedic surgery, and we hope that our findings will help surgeons and patients make such decisions," Sponseller says.
However, in children who are considered to have low-risk implants, they are best left in because the surgical threats of removing them may overshadow the benefits, the researchers further said.
