oxford knee failure

[T- Bucket mad]

hi all ,i am a newbie on this forum and i have a bit of a problem . i had a partial left knee joint replacement 10 months ago , i was in a car yesterday and went to push the seat back , next thing i know i am in searing pain in my knee and it locked at about 60 degrees , i opened car door and crawled out on hands and good knee ,evetually got myself up then knee straightend but still in agony
Next thing trip to hospital and x ray , the plastic spacer has fallen out or broken and the joint has collapsted
( the plastic bit showing up with the marker pin at back of joint ),
so seems i am up for surgery again and if joint is not salvagable then revision the full joint is there only option so the surgeon tells me , is this a common problem and what could cause it ? , up till this episode apart from a bit of pain and a knotchey feeling in joint ,no other problems 

[0802kja]

I am so sorry that you are dealing with this.  It sounds excruiciating and so disappointing, besides.  I hope that you will receive the best possible care from your doctor and family members.  Let us know how you recover.

Karen

[knee deep in Goo]

Ouch!!  Let us know when the revision is and how you do

[Teresa_S]

Briefly, I had to have the spacer replaced as the screws in the prosthesis backed out and were loose in the knee , getting caught for about 2-4 weeks, and then one lodged in the spacer. Had lots of adhesions, and the screws replaced, and the spacer replaced. The incicion was used again, and it was actually the worst part, as the tendons, nerves, etc did not like being cut again after having just healed in 12 months. It was easier to walk than the first time, though. Teresa

[UK Girl !]

OMG Steve - that must have been sooo painfull - just wanted to wish you the very best - let us know how you get on
anja

[emphatic]

Steve,

I'm sure this is the last thing on your mind right now, but I'm thinking that you should document everything very carefully -- how it happened, when, etc. Get copies of your ER records, along with any records from your doctor visits. If possible, even ask for a copy of your Xrays. I'd also suggest keeping a diary of what you do and what kind of care you receive along the way. Be very careful of what you sign at any doctor's office these days, too. Read everything carefully.

The reason is that you probably have grounds for a legal complaint of some sort -- either malpractice by the surgeon (less likely) or a defective product (more likely). You might also want to consider hiring a reputable medical malpractice attorney.

I'm not one to normally leap to a litigious viewpoint, but it's definitely not an acceptable thing for the implant to fail like that, at 10 months, with no provocation. I really think you need to get legal counsel on this.

I'm vey sorry that you're going through this -- the original surgery is hard enough. To have this happen on top of it has got to be extremely difficult. Hang in there, and please know that we're all pulling for you!

Meg

[T- Bucket mad]

Thanks for all your help , its great to be able to air ones concerns with people who understand and care ,
Iam off to the hospital thursday for pre op health screen , (msra etc ) and hopefully then not too long to wait , i have strapped up knee well and seem to get about on my crutches ok with the help of pleanty of tramadol , but still reading some of the stories on this forum i am lucky!  , will keep you all posted as i progreess ,kind regards to all -Steve

[T- Bucket mad]

Just been for pre op assesment . they have now strapped my leg in a support caliper to stop it wobbling , but must say it feels much better ,just waiting now for addmission date ,am on urgent urgent list ,so we will see !

[KJ]

In response to the "it must be someones fault, why don't you sue" posting.......
There is a recognised failure rate with all procedures, admittedly surgeon error can contribute but sometimes ops just fail. In the UK at the moment not everyone automatically resorts to legal action if things don't go right - I hope we never fully go down that US route
KJ

[T- Bucket mad]

hi kj / i agree ,if you crash into my car and won't pay i will sue you ,if you are trying to help me and it goes a bit" pete tong " well thats life , i fix cars for a living and they can be as unpredictable as the human body , i am just gratfull that they can help me at all ,unlike some peoples problems that are not so easily rectified ,i have had a lot of mechanical problems with my body i also have a right arm below elbow amputation but thats another story -steve 

[knee deep in Goo]

actually, I think it was pretty good advice. You should be aware that you need to be able to protect yourself.

[emphatic]

In response to the "it must be someones fault, why don't you sue" posting.......

Well, that's quite the gross overstatement of what I said in my post.

What I actually suggested was that he document his situation and be careful -- and that it might be wise to engage legal counsel to guide him, in the event that it does turn out to be a product defect or malpractice.

Never did I state, "it must be someone's fault, why don't you sue."

There is a recognised failure rate with all procedures, admittedly surgeon error can contribute but sometimes ops just fail. In the UK at the moment not everyone automatically resorts to legal action if things don't go right - I hope we never fully go down that US route

Yes, there is a "failure rate" associated with all procedures, but you have to define the types of failures that are acceptable. A plastic spacer breaking or falling out is not within the defined list of acceptable failures at that stage of recovery.

Hence, my statement:

I'm not one to normally leap to a litigious viewpoint, but it's definitely not an acceptable thing for the implant to fail like that, at 10 months, with no provocation.

As I said, I am not one who "automatically resorts" to legal action, but I am one who is very knowledgeable as to the standard of care for most knee surgeries, and my advice stands:

Steve would be wise to document his situation and his medical care up to the incident and going foward, as this particular problem -- as he describes it -- is not within the standard of care. Whether he does something with it is totally up to him

As with all advice on here, take it or leave it.... just don't mis-state or mis-quote it.

Meg

[OldAthlete]

Hello

hi all ,i am a newbie on this forum and i have a bit of a problem . i had a partial left knee joint replacement 10 months ago , i was in a car yesterday and went to push the seat back , next thing i know i am in searing pain in my knee and it locked at about 60 degrees , i opened car door and crawled out on hands and good knee ,evetually got myself up then knee straightend but still in agony
Next thing trip to hospital and x ray , the plastic spacer has fallen out or broken and the joint has collapsted
( the plastic bit showing up with the marker pin at back of joint ),
so seems i am up for surgery again and if joint is not salvagable then revision the full joint is there only option so the surgeon tells me , is this a common problem and what could cause it ? , up till this episode apart from a bit of pain and a knotchey feeling in joint ,no other problems  regards steve stovell

Please check my post under Unicompartmental Knee Replacement - I had an experience very similar to yours

[emphatic]

Well whadya know... that's two.

Why don't the both of ya start a class action suit!      

Meg

[T- Bucket mad]

hi all /  oldathelete that sounds exsactly the same scenario as mine , i am up for surgery on tuesday , the surgeon has requested a special kit for the operation to be available suppose that could be this vanguard  type joint ? they have given me also the old might have to be a tkr and i also given the a simular reply to yourselve especially at the ripe old age of 48 dont really want future problems with revisions ,but as they are doing my op under epidural nerve block they could give me the ultimatum on the table when they have chiseled out the old oxford joint , and at that stage my argument for or against would be poinless ,LOL , Has any one in knee land had experiance of tkr-tkr revisions and there success and long term probs ? at the moment i am a bit worried about the whole thing but i am  in alot of pain when this blinking plastic WIDGET moves about and sticks me in the nerve ,brings abit of water to the eyes i can tell you ,    i also dont do to well with crutches as i lost my lower right arm below elbow after a explosion accident at school when i was 13 ( making fireworks unsupervised ) so last time we tried an ordinary elbow cruch left side and a gutter crutch right side but it was really difficult but i was off crutches really quick didn't matter , but if we do have to go with radical surgery i could be longer on them , any ideas for right side anyone ? thanks to everbody help & advise esp meg as you do unfortunatly need to watch your back in these matters and i have taken on board your advise , i am begining to realize i am too trusting in some matters & over causious in others thanks for that , going to start packing my toothbrush and flannel now ready for tuesday , best wishes to all steve