MOM HIPS: UNEXPLAINED PAIN PROBABLY TISSUE DAMAGE (Orthopedics This Week)
Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) researchers have revealed the results of their new study showing that the cause of unexplained pain among metal-on-metal hip implant patients is more likely to be tissue damage than wear of the implant. The study was performed by Dr. Danyal Nawabi, an orthopedic surgery fellow, along with research collaborators from HSS.
The research group, which did not have any ties to hip implant manufacturers, was led by Douglas Padgett, M.D., chief of the Adult Reconstruction and Joint Replacement Division and chief of the Hip Service at HSS, and Hollis Potter, M.D., chief of the Division of Magnetic Resonance imaging (MRI). They compared 50 patients who came to HSS for revision surgery because of unexplained pain, to a control group of 48 patients who came to HSS for revision surgery because of loosening, malalignment, infection or fracture.
The investigators combined results from clinical examinations, MRIs, wear analysis studies on the removed implants, and pathology studies, including the degree of aseptic lymphocytic vasculitis-associated lesions (ALVAL), a sign of adverse tissue r...
