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Lessons learnt: preventing future artificial joint failures
In the first three months of this year alone, global media has highlighted the tragic consequences of artificial joint failures. The Institution has therefore brought together the leading figures whose expertise was sought by BBC Newsnight and other media, for a ground-breaking event ‘Lessons learnt: preventing future artificial joint failures’ at One Birdcage Walk on Saturday 21 April, to share their knowledge and insight into the technical issues involved and consider the best way forward to improve patients’ lives in the future.
The total hip replacement was termed the ‘operation of the century’ and, over the last few years, many patients with impaired mobility were routinely advised by their orthopaedic surgeons that metal artificial hip joints were the best products ever and that after their operation, they would be as active and healthy as ever before. However, this has not happened. Since 2008, researchers like Dr Tom Joyce, Reader in Biotribology at Newcastle University have been at the forefront of raising the health issues associated with metal-on-metal hips, and in 2010, one of the manufacturers withdrew one of their metal-on-metal hip designs, though not before almost 100,000 had been implanted worldwide.
Since then, working hand-in-hand with orthopaedic colleagues and with key funding from the British Orthopaedic Association, Dr Joyce has continued through his publishing of scientific research papers to highlight the issues of metal-on-metal hips, and between 2011 and 2012, these findings have been publicised on Channel 4’s Dispatches, BBC’s The One Show and Newsnight, UK regional news broadcasts, RTE in Ireland, the Australian investigative programme Four Corners, and Danish television, as well as via articles in the Daily Telegraph, The Guardian and Sunday Times. As a result of this high profile global sharing of scientific findings, much of it in conjunction with the British Medical Journal, The Lancet this year has called for a ban on stemmed metal-on-metal hips, a Senate enquiry was held in Australia, while the Danish Orthopaedic Society recently announced that no more metal-on-metal hips should be fitted.
Around the world, however, thousands of people have metal-on-metal hips and are very worried about the long-term implications of having these artificial joints. There is a real need to hear the fears and concerns of these people, and at the same time to re-establish trust in medicine and trust in the professionals designing, manufacturing and regulating artificial joints.
It is to address this need that the Institution is hosting ‘Lessons learnt: preventing future artificial joint failures’ at One Birdcage Walk on Saturday 21 April.
This unique colloquium will bring together clinical practitioners, industry experts, patient groups, regulators, notifying bodies and learned societies to discuss major problems with orthopaedic joint replacements; the history of the problems; and how the many stakeholders should deal with these problems. In a neutral and transparent way, they will consider how the orthopaedic community might prevent problems from happening again and rebuild trust in joint replacements and the systems around them.
Full details and registration.
Last modified: Thu, 05 Apr 2012 15:24:14 BST