Dr. Harry Demos and Dr. Del Schutte, both Associate Professor of
Orthopedics at MUSC, and specialists in joint reconstruction
recently joined Dr. Marcy Bolster to record a podcast to address
concerns regarding metal-on-metal joint replacement devices.
Below, please read a summary of their thoughts on device
implants and you can listen to their podcast as well. Total hip
arthroplasty is one of the most commonly performed and effective
surgical procedures currently in use. Nearly 200,000 hip
replacements are performed annually in the United States. Recent
data reveals hip replacement to be one of the most cost-
effective of all surgical procedures in terms of quality of life
per health care dollar spent. Unfortunately, newer technology
has not always led to an improvement in patient outcomes. A
recent hip replacement design has been associated with an
unacceptably high early failure rate. By now almost everyone
with a newspaper or television set has seen the advertisements
by attorneys soliciting patients with “