
JBJS Case Connector, an online case report journal published by The Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery, has issued a 'Watch' regarding the rare but potentially catastrophic fracture of ceramic femoral heads used in hip replacements.
Ceramic femoral head fractures arise mainly from trauma; non-compatible, damaged, or contaminated femoral head/stem taper connections; or material or manufacturing defects.
This Watch was prompted by a case report by Pomeroy et al. in the Dec. 23, 2015 JBJS Case Connector, a report by Heiner and Mahoney in the Oct. 22, 2014 JBJS Case Connector, and a 2014 article in BMJ Case Reports by Tucker and Acharya. Those three reports described patients who experienced ceramic femoral-head fractures anywhere from 10 days to 14 years after hip-replacement surgery.
"The publication of 'Watches' helps fulfill our mission to serve the orthopaedic community," commented Marc Swiontkowski, MD, co-editor of JBJS Case Connector. "The 'Watch' designation may encourage the orthopedic community to either demonstrate that these are isolated, unrelated cases or sharpen the focus further by rigorously evaluating the intervention and/or reporting related cases."
Source: Eurekalert
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