Sixty-year-old Priya Gill has been complaining of knee ache for sometime. Even after popping pain killers or applying analgesic gels regularly, the ache has refused to subside. Priya consults an orthopaedic who tells her she might have metallosis. Some 10 years ago, Priya broke her knee which was fixed with the help of a metal implant. Her doctor now suspects that the ache is due to the presence of the metal particles in the surrounding tissues. “Or it could be that the metal particles of the implant have loosened over time.”
The solution lies in Priya either getting the metal particles removed through surgery or get the implant replaced by a new, improved version.
Says Dr.Suneel Kumar, head of department, Orthopaedics, BLK Memorial Hospital, New Delhi, “This is a rare complication but it does happen to some patients. The quality of the metal used in the implant or its specific design can lead to metallosis.”
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Usually, a combination of metals is used in implants, the main components being high grade stainless steel and titanium. He says whether the metal particles need to be removed is decided after checking the patient.
“Each case is different. If the pain continues, we generally prefer to remove it to ease the pain. Mind you, the metal particles do not cause infection. They cause only pain.”
There are no specific tests to confirm metallosis but Dr.Kumar says, “An X-ray can easily spot the problem.” Knowledge of metallurgy, he points out, is improving every passing day which has succeeded in making the implants far better than what they were a decade ago. “Now, we get top of the design implants from abroad. Even the local implants are not bad.”
Apart from acute pain, which usually starts as constant dull ache, the common symptoms of metallosis are tenderness and swelling of the area.