Recent information presented at the British Hip Society Annual Conference held from March 2 -4, 2011 indicates a rise in the failure rate of the DePuy ASR XL Acetabular Hip Replacement System which was manufactured and marketed by DePuy Orthopaedics, Inc., a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson.  The British Orthopaedic Association has released a summary of the results of the study presented, stating that the early failure rates “range from 21% revision rate at 4 years (potentially rising to 35% if all currently known painful implants progress to revision) to 49% at 6 years for the ASR XL device.”  This summary was included in an article published on the British Orthopaedic Association’s website entitled “Large Diameter Metal on Metal Bearing Total Hip Replacements.” Symptoms exhibited by patients affected by these higher than expected failure rates include pain, device loosening and lysis, along with potentially elevated levels of chromium and cobalt.  The article also indicates that “patients with metal-on-metal hip implants should be seen regularly by their doctors during the first five years and probably for the life of the prosthesis.   Pain in this group of patients should be taken seriously and investigated appropriately.”

British Orthopaedic Association article