|
An event regarding instability involving a triathlon femoral component was reported.The event was confirmed by medical review.Method & results: - device evaluation and results: not performed as product was not returned.- clinician review: the available medical records were provided to the consulting clinician for a review which noted that - "patient had knee problems since the year 2000 with several arthroscopic procedures left/right such as partial meniscectomy.Progressive tricompartmental osteoarthritis developed, refractory to conservative treatment, with at first the left knee replaced on (b)(6) 2009, using triathlon ps components with a 9-mm ps bearing.Postoperative rehabilitation was slow with much pain although never a real cause for this could be established.The right knee was replaced with similar triathlon ps components and 9-mm bearing on (b)(6) 2010.Postop rehabilitation of the right knee went much more easy.After a few years, around 2012, patient started to develop feelings of instability in the left as well as right knee with clicking symptoms.¿global instability¿ was diagnosed in both varus, valgus, anterior and posterior direction for both left and right knee.Right knee revision surgery was indicated and performed on march 10, 2014, with exchange of the 9- mm ps liner for a 13- mm device reportedly restoring stability.Femur and tibia were well fixed and therefore retained.A similar revision procedure was performed in the left knee on (b)(6) 2015, similarly with exchange of the 9-mm ps liner for a 13-mm device with the other components retained.The right knee improved significantly with good functionality although the left knee revision remained painful.A second revision of the left knee was consequently performed on july 24, 2016, for ¿gross loosening of patellofemoral and tibial device¿ as reported in the records.All left knee devices were removed and replaced with biomet cemented revision devices with a satisfactory clinical result.Regarding exact cause of failure, there is no substantial info anywhere in the 763-pages of medical records including radiological reports to describe ¿normal alignment and/or position¿.Instability was diagnosed but cause of the problem nowhere detailed.In clinical praxis, the number one cause for instability is component malposition or suboptimal initial bearing thickness.This requires actual x- rays for analysis that are unfortunately not available for this patient at this time.The same applies to the cause of the reported left knee loosening in 2016 leading to the second left knee revision.In conclusion, this case cannot be solved with the current information but requires x-rays.We should be aware in this case that there may be interference of complaints from other issues in this patient.Both prior and post the knee surgeries, patient was reported with both lumbar and cervical spine problems also leading to several surgical interventions and prolonged conservative treatment modalities in between.In this context there are some psychological evaluations reported in the records that are not quite consistent between them but include descriptions of ¿personality disorder, schizophrenia, psychotic episodes, borderline condition, alcohol abuse, malingering¿ and more.I do not think this applies to the knee problems that appear to be real and were ultimately solved with good clinical result after two revisions of the left knee and one of the right knee.- device history review: all devices were manufactured and accepted into final stock with no relevant reported discrepancies.- complaint history review: there have been no other similar events for the reported lot.Conclusion: it was reported that patient was revised due to instability of the right total knee.The available medical records were provided to the consulting clinician for a review which noted that , there is no substantial info anywhere in the 763-pages of medical records including radiological reports to describe ¿normal alignment and/or position¿.Instability was diagnosed but cause of the problem nowhere detailed.In clinical praxis, the number one cause for instability is component malposition or suboptimal initial bearing thickness.This requires actual x-rays for analysis that are unfortunately not available for this patient at this time.The same applies to the cause of the reported left knee loosening in 2016 leading to the second left knee revision.In conclusion, this case cannot be solved with the current information but requires x-rays.We should be aware in this case that there may be interference of complaints from other issues in this patient.Both prior and post the knee surgeries, patient was reported with both lumbar and cervical spine problems also leading to several surgical interventions and prolonged conservative treatment modalities in between.In this context there are some psychological evaluations reported in the records that are not quite consistent between them but include descriptions of ¿personality disorder, schizophrenia, psychotic episodes, borderline condition, alcohol abuse, malingering¿ and more.I do not think this applies to the knee problems that appear to be real and were ultimately solved with good clinical result after two revisions of the left knee and one of the right knee.The exact cause of the event could not be determined because insufficient information was provided.No further investigation is required at this time.If additional information becomes available to indicate further evaluation is warranted, this record will be reopened.
|