DePuy Knee Replacement Requires Artifical Spacers Packed With Antibiotics

DePuy Knee Lawsuit News

Infections involving artificial knee cement can require a patient to undergo revision surgery

Saturday, March 9, 2019 - When the DePuy knee fails as is the case in an unusually high percentage of patients, revision surgery is usually required. There are many factors that result in artificial knee bone loss but the most common by far are the infections that occur necessitating revision surgery. It is usually necessary to insert a spacer to make up for bone loss. The spacer device is packed with full-spectrum antibiotics to fight the infection. Revision surgery bone loss requiring a spacer is so common that medical device companies are specializing in developing and manufacturing antibiotic-loaded knee revision spacer devices. DePuy knee lawsuit attorneys handling cases in the United States offer families a free consultation and no obligation to file a claim.

In order to fight this knee replacement problem, the DePuy knee manufactured by Johnson & Johnson uses the KASM Knee Articulating Spacer Mold. The KASM (get it, chasm?) is made by Ortho Development Corporation, and is "a sterile, disposable cement spacer mold for patients who develop an infection after primary knee replacement," according to DePuy. The product features allowing patients to achieve a degree of mobility while their body is fighting the infection. DePuy admits that "five percent of patients require total knee revision surgery, and that prosthetic joint infections are among the leading cause, with the majority occurring within the first two years after surgery." To treat an artificial knee infection the artificial knee is removed and the wound packed with the antibiotic-laden spacer. If and when the infection clears up, a second revision surgery occurs to replace insert a new artificial knee. The entire process can cause a patient to be immobilized for a period of six months or more. The artificial knee spacer allows patients to be up and around with the use of walker while fighting the infection.

In addition to antibiotic knee spacers, antibiotic knee device glue has also hit the market. The National Institute of Health has studied antibiotic knee replacement bonding materials and has determined that while antibiotics do in fact decrease the incidences of knee replacement infection, they also weaken the mechanical and chemical integrity of the glue needed to develop a strong bond and keep a knee replacement device in place.

Just to be sure, knee infections can develop into a serious condition and could conceivably lead to leg amputation above the knee. As impressive as the DePuy website is as well as the mechanical breakthroughs in knee replacement and spacer system design, patient horror stories abound. One such knee replacement disaster story is that of Jeff Robertson of Bedford Virginia. Losing his wife to cancer led to his overeating from depression and becoming overweight causing severe pain in his knees. Instead of taking a more holistic approach his doctors rushed him into total knee replacement surgery. In the two and one-half years that followed Jeff had to undergo five knee revision surgeries due to the infections that developed. In the end, Jeff had to have his right leg amputated, not quite the type of knee replacement outcome that would make it to the DePuy website home page.

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