Joan Lindh - Revised Right Birmingham Hip Resurfacing to Total Hip Replacement (Sept 1999)
Joan is an active housewife from Surrey who enjoys golf, tennis and cycling. She struggled for seven years with hip arthritis but, following a Birmingham Hip Resurfacing (BHR) with Mr McMinn in 1999, got back to a highly active, happy lifestyle continuing to play the sports she loves.
Around 10 years post op, she began experiencing a dull ache in her groin and travelled back to Birmingham for blood tests with the McMinn clinical team. They soon discovered Joan had a metal allergy which unfortunately caused a swelling (or ‘psuedotumour’) around her hip and some acetabular bone damage. Joan’s body had reacted badly to the normal amounts of metal ions released by her BHR. And, though the implant had not worn abnormally, the problem would require revision surgery to correct.
In January 2010 Joan had her BHR revised to a total hip replacement (THR). She was delighted to get back to normal life quickly and recalls, “I was in hospital for five days. The wound healed fine. The day after coming home I cooked supper using one crutch around the kitchen. The following day I went to the supermarket.”
Aware of the sensational press stories surrounding Metal-on-Metal (MoM) implants, Joan took a positive outlook on her situation. “I've had 10 good years of my life restored to me,” she says. “Ten years ago, had I known that I would need a revision at this stage I would not have changed a thing. I’d have gone ahead with the resurfacing operation.”
The press have reported severe metal reactions in MoM patients, particularly those fitted with a failed ASR hip resurfacing. These cases must be put into perspective, however. For the most part, pseudotumours and metal reactions are very uncommon in patients fitted with a BHR. In Mr McMinn’s series of 3,205 BHRs for example, only 11 patients (0.3%) have suffered MoM reactions and all are doing well following their revision surgery.
Joan, for instance, even managed to fit in some travelling following her THR. “We went to New York six weeks after the operation,” she says. “We walked for miles and used the subway a lot. I just didn’t give it a second thought - in fact I was walking better than my husband and my daughter! Two months after the operation I was back to life as usual.”
Since her revision surgery, Joan has managed to get back to playing regular golf, commenting, “I feel very confident with my new hip; very comfortable. I’ve walked for miles and I haven’t had any feeling of insecurity with it at all. It’s just very easy.”
