S&N Oxinium

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vendorat

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Have been reading more stuff - this site is really therapeutic - I can feel my palipitation from fear decreasing as I read - thanks.
I am leaning towards ceramic head along with the latest polyethelene cups as posted by an earlier user.
I live between East midlands and south yorkshire - do you know if the Writington Hospital OS have experience with the "Smith and Nephew product called "Oxinium". It basically, from what I read, is a super hardened metal alloy, with a "ceramic like" coating on it, thus impervious to the scratches or potential chips, or cracks, that can happen in a normal ceramic design". It does sound like the best of both worlds. Or do you know of any UK OS with that expertise?
 
vendorat - welcome to BoneSmart. I moved your post into a thread of its own as the one you posted in was started in 2006! It will be more likely to get some response if it's the opening post.

In the UK you generally get referred to a local surgeon and he decides what to use. Unless you can go privately, of course. Most UK surgeons use about 2 or 3 different prostheses to suit different situations like age and life-style, etc.

So long story short, we don't usually have much of a choice in the prosthesis. Now that may sound like a downer but I can assure you that 95% of the hips on the market today have withstood the test of time very well. Otherwise, I can assure they wouldn't still be available because the surgeons would drop them quicker than the proverbial hot potato. Believe me, I have worked with these guys since the inception of hip replacements (yes I really AM that old! LOL) and they are very critical of their work, very critical of the products and voraciously
read their own mag the Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery which is also very quick to highlight any possible problems.

I suggest that, if you haven't already, you read my post
How to choose a surgeon and a prosthesis which I put up principally for our American members but has points valid for the UK as well.

As for which surgeons use the Oxinium, unlike in the States, it's not usually a feature of publicity here because, as I said, that choice is generally deemed to be the surgeon's rather than the patients.

If I were in your shoes, I'd sooner choose a good surgeon (the Wrightington Hip Centre would be a good place to find one!
[Bonesmart.org] S&N Oxinium
) and let him decide which prosthesis is suitable for me.

 
Thanks for the suggestions. Is the Wrightington private? if not how do I get referred. Currently under a local surgeon who seems ok in as far as he did send me away to do some reading around THR before I see him on Wednesday but the local hospital is not so hot from what I hear and am jittery enough without worrying about hospital incompetencies. Can I just go to my GP and ask for a referral to WHRC and will I have to give him a name of a surgeon and if so, which name - please help.
 
It's an NHS hospital - you can ask to be referred there by your GP.

But first I suggest you contact surgeons at the broken link removed: https://www.wwl.nhs.uk/Internet/Home/wrt/Centre_for_Lower_Limb_and_Hip_Surgery.asp and ask them which prostheses they use. You can do this by phoning the secretaries of the hip surgeons from broken link removed: https://www.wwl.nhs.uk/Internet/Home/wrt/Hip_and_Lower_Limb_Surgery_Consultant_Profiles.asp. broken link removed: https://www.wwl.nhs.uk/Library/Wrightington_Hospital/Aslam_Mohammed.pdf seems to be a particular enthusiast for hips and for empowering his patients with information!

There is a small problem in that having surgery outside your local Primary Health Care Trust's catchment area means that it will have to reimburse the Wrightington for your operation and your choice to have 'this' prosthesis rather than 'that' one will not factor into their decision. So far as I am aware, the only consideration will be whether there is a medical need that cannot be met locally. So I suggest that if you get as far as a consultation you discuss this element with the surgeon and see if he has any thoughts about it. The intial consultation does not need PCT approval, only a letter from your GP.

Hope this helps.
 
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