Future Of Knee Replacement Can Seem Fearful Due To Defective Zimmer Implants

Some 76 million baby boomers are getting older, and that means more physical problems for more people. Will this mean that there will be more implant device complications, such as the seemingly common Zimmer knee replacement failures, though? The AAOS says that in 2006 there were more than 1 million hip and knee replacement surgeries performed in the U.S. Of those, 7.5% were revision surgeries. The 77,000 procedures to replace or repair defective or poorly installed artificial hip and knee joints added $32 billion to the cost of medical care. The AAOS says that the registry costs about $20 to $25 million to launch.

In August, a DePuy ASR hip implant recall was issued for about 93,000 artificial hips after it was discovered that about 12% to 13% of the individuals who received the hip implant had their device fail within five years. Many DePuy ASR lawsuits have been filed on behalf of individuals who received the implant, alleging that doctors were expressing concerns to DePuy about a higher-than-expected failure rate for the metal hip system before the recall. This Zimmer NexGen knee has

a “high-flex” porous femoral component that attaches to the bottom of the thighbone instead of using cement to keep the knee replacements in place. As a result of what some are considering a defective and unreasonably dangerous design, patients could have been exposed to an unnecessary risk of problems with Zimmer NexGen replacement knees.

There are three components to a knee implant for replacing three bone surfaces – the femur, the tibia, and the patella implants which is designed so a metal component always moves against plastic or other synthetic material to promote smooth movement and minimal future wear. Knee replacements may be cemented or cement-less depending on what’s used to hold the implant in place. The majority of knee replacements are generally cemented into place. Despite all the options available to the growing senior population, many fear the problems associated with replacement surgery or complications that can arise from either a poorly orchestrated surgery or poorly made implant.