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News... Healthcare News Boneshaker shows loose hip joint | Boneshaker shows loose hip joint |
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Hip replacements which have come loose could be revealed by a machine that vibrates the leg then listens to the sound made by the bone. A quarter of the people who have new hip joints will suffer pain because the fixing cement is failing. University of Bath engineers placed a device on the knee, then used an ultrasound receiver to measure the different sound waves produced. An orthopaedic surgeon said it might help spot those needing new operations. The key to the technique is a tiny gap between the replacement hip joint and the bone which is caused when the metal joint becomes loose. When the leg bone is vibrated, a secure connection will lead to a marked difference in the sound compared with sound waves from a loose joint. Dr James Cunningham, who led the project, said that his method was far more sensitive than the traditional X-rays used by surgeons trying to work out why hip patients were in pain. He said it might help prevent the need for unnecessary surgery. He said: "This is important because surgeons need to know if the pain the patient is feeling comes from a loose joint needing surgery, or from another cause. "The ultrasound method is better than any other method available now, including the traditional X-ray procedure, which can only pick up a large amount of loosening." He said that, if used early enough, patients with infections in the joint might be treatable with antibiotics rather than by additional operations. Testing option Mr John Nolan, a consultant orthopaedic surgeon from the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital and treasurer of the British Hip Society said that consultants currently employed a battery of tests to work out what was wrong with patients. He said: "Often we get a good indication simply from getting patients to describe exactly when and where their pain is, but we also use X-rays, and bone scans, to try to detect loosening. He said the new test might prove useful if clinical tests showed it performing better than existing tests. "This is certainly interesting, but might be necessary in only a small number of patients." Credit: BBC News Date: Sunday, 5 August 2007 Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6929989.stm |
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