The Journal of Knee Surgery Explains DePuy Knee Debonding

DePuy Knee Lawsuit News

DePuy knee replacement complaints caught the attention of the writers at The Journal of Knee Surgery

Tuesday, July 24, 2018 - The Journal of Knee Surgery has issued a report in response to the unusually high number of revisions surgeries that the DePuy knee replacement devices have required. The paper addressed the "unusually high rate of early failure of the tibial component in Total Knee Arthroplasty System at the implant-cement interface." In layman's terms, this means that the glue that holds the device to the shin bone comes undone. This is also referred to as debonding. When debonding occurs the lower leg is free to rotate within the tibial sleeve of the knee replacement device and can cause catastrophic falling incidents. Picture one's foot suddenly at a 90-degree angle to the direction they are walking. The Journal went on to conclude that around 250 cases of tibial baseplate debonding have occurred according to the FDA's MAUDE database adverse events registry. In the 15 patients analysis, knee failure occurred in under 2 years, not the 15-20 year guarantee the company promised. The ages in the study ranged from 45-85. Most DePuy knee replacement patients are in their 60's and 80's, a time in life when the pain from osteoarthritis becomes unbearable.

Osteoarthritis is the number one reason thousands of senior citizens in the United States elect to undergo the radical and dangerous knee replacement surgery requiring general anesthesia. After the surgery knee replacement patients can expect a 6 month to one year period of physical rehabilitation followed by a lifetime program of physical fitness. The DePuy knee replacement fails or becomes debonded due to many reasons one of which is a patient becoming overweight. The knee is the largest and most overworked joint in the body and being overweight can cause the knee to fail prematurely. Other reasons for the Depuy knee failing can be extreme exercise, running and jumping. Once the knee has become debonded from the tibia, routine activities like getting in and out of the car, or walking up or down steps can produce catastrophic falling events.

It is imperative that once the knee has become debonded that the patient stays off of their feet and gets to their orthopedist immediately. Not only will continuing to walk produce extreme pain it will also cause the device to wear away at the tibia causing bone loss. Revision surgery when bone loss has occurred can require a totally new knee to be inserted to replace the debonded device. In order to address the poor fit and debonding issues reported of the original DePuy knee, the company has come out with a completely redesigned knee that can be adjusted to accommodate a patient's tibia bone shortening as well as produce a more snug fit.

Hundreds of DePuy Knee replacement device patients that have experienced this malfunction have consulted with DePuy Knee attorneys to see if they qualify to file a claim against DePuy Synthes as well as against their parent company Johnson & Johnson for bringing a faulty medical device to market.

Source: https://www.thieme-connect.com/DOI/DOI?10.1055/s-0037-1603756

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