In Alabama, we continue to receive calls from individuals who have not been advised, or just recently been advised, that they have the recalled product. Just this week, we received calls from Birmingham, Anniston, and Fairhope from individuals who received the recalled product. I believe there may be hundreds, and perhaps thousands, of the recalled devices in Alabama.
Many believe they don't have a recalled product because their hip "is not a metal on metal." While the Rejuvenate and ABG II are not metal on metal constructs, they have been recalled and unfortunately, the damage caused by the Stryker hip is often as bad, and sometimes worse, than the metal on metal devices recalled by Depuy and others.
Why is this the case? The reason is that the Stryker problem is in the stem, not the ball and the cup. Fretting in the stem causes the same problem as the metal on metal ball and cup designs; however, because the failure is in the stem, in order to correct the problem, the stem must be removed from the femur. Stryker stems were often selected by physicians because they adhered so tighly to the femur. Unfortunately, surgeons are describing revisions of Rejuvenates and ABG IIs as askin to breaking rebar out of concrete.
If you think that you may have a recalled Stryker hip system, it is important that you evaluate your options and take special care to select a revision surgeon, should revision surgery become necessary.
