United StatesHi Murray, there's a blood test you can have performed that will tell you what metals, if any, you might be allergic to. The test is an activated leukocyte test, and it's only performed by one lab in the country, the Orthopedic Analysis company in Chicago, IL. Once you have your blood tested and know which, if any, metals you might be allergic to, then you need to determine what metals are in your knee prosthesis. Once that's known, you can determine if it's likely a metal allergy that may be causing your issues.
I am a metal allergy sufferer and only discovered it after my first knee replacement. For reference, I'm 66 years old and have no ongoing health issues. Here's a quick background on my experience with metal allergies:
1. 12/2021, had right knee TKR.
2. After several months I kept experiencing two problems. Constant swelling, stiffness and soreness in the knee, and also too much instability in the knee. Was tested for infections three times, all negative. Surgeon wasn't sure what was causing my problems.
3. After 10 months of constantly experiencing these issues, I consulted three other surgeons to get their opinions on what might be going on. All said I had too much instability in the knee, and that they were thinking that fixing the instability would correct the constant swelling, stiffness and soreness.
3. 3/2023, had revision surgery on the right knee to fix the instability. During this surgery the surgeon noted that I had unexpected clumps of inflamed tissue throughout the knee, but didn't know what caused it. He cleaned it all out, and tested for infection again, but it was negative.
4. After this surgery, the instability was corrected, but the swelling, stiffness and soreness continued unabated.
5. Seven months after my 3/2023 revision surgery I started doing my own research to try and figure out what was going on. I perused many articles from places like NIH, Mayo Clinic, Johns Hopkins, etc that discussed all the typical reasons why a knee replacement fails or people are dissatisfied with the result. I'd go down the lists checking them off...nope, nope, nope, ... until I came to the one that said you experience constant swelling, soreness and stiffness. Bingo. And that was from metal allergy.
6. 9/2023, I had my blood tested with Orthopedic Analysis and sure enough I was allergic to Cobalt and highly allergic to Nickel. And both Cobalt and Nickel were the primary metals contained in the femoral component of my Stryker Triathlon prosthesis.
7. 3/2024 another full right knee TKR, I had my original Stryker prosthesis completely removed and replaced with a Smith & Nephew Legion implant which is composed of titanium and a ceramic material. I'm now 6 weeks post-op and all is progressing just fine with none of the problems I had previously.
Interestingly enough, many surgeons you might talk to don't really buy into the idea that a metal allergy could be causing these issues. I talked with one who just couldn't believe it and others who had some experience with it and sort of believed it, but weren't totally bought into it. Then I spoke with the new surgeon who performed my 3/2024 knee replacement who has been doing this for a long time and he knows metal allergy is a real issue because he has experienced it firsthand many times. He had treated numerous patients over the years who suffered from it, and once they had the offending implant removed, they no longer had any symptoms.
Hope this info helps out!
I am a metal allergy sufferer and only discovered it after my first knee replacement. For reference, I'm 66 years old and have no ongoing health issues. Here's a quick background on my experience with metal allergies:
1. 12/2021, had right knee TKR.
2. After several months I kept experiencing two problems. Constant swelling, stiffness and soreness in the knee, and also too much instability in the knee. Was tested for infections three times, all negative. Surgeon wasn't sure what was causing my problems.
3. After 10 months of constantly experiencing these issues, I consulted three other surgeons to get their opinions on what might be going on. All said I had too much instability in the knee, and that they were thinking that fixing the instability would correct the constant swelling, stiffness and soreness.
3. 3/2023, had revision surgery on the right knee to fix the instability. During this surgery the surgeon noted that I had unexpected clumps of inflamed tissue throughout the knee, but didn't know what caused it. He cleaned it all out, and tested for infection again, but it was negative.
4. After this surgery, the instability was corrected, but the swelling, stiffness and soreness continued unabated.
5. Seven months after my 3/2023 revision surgery I started doing my own research to try and figure out what was going on. I perused many articles from places like NIH, Mayo Clinic, Johns Hopkins, etc that discussed all the typical reasons why a knee replacement fails or people are dissatisfied with the result. I'd go down the lists checking them off...nope, nope, nope, ... until I came to the one that said you experience constant swelling, soreness and stiffness. Bingo. And that was from metal allergy.
6. 9/2023, I had my blood tested with Orthopedic Analysis and sure enough I was allergic to Cobalt and highly allergic to Nickel. And both Cobalt and Nickel were the primary metals contained in the femoral component of my Stryker Triathlon prosthesis.
7. 3/2024 another full right knee TKR, I had my original Stryker prosthesis completely removed and replaced with a Smith & Nephew Legion implant which is composed of titanium and a ceramic material. I'm now 6 weeks post-op and all is progressing just fine with none of the problems I had previously.
Interestingly enough, many surgeons you might talk to don't really buy into the idea that a metal allergy could be causing these issues. I talked with one who just couldn't believe it and others who had some experience with it and sort of believed it, but weren't totally bought into it. Then I spoke with the new surgeon who performed my 3/2024 knee replacement who has been doing this for a long time and he knows metal allergy is a real issue because he has experienced it firsthand many times. He had treated numerous patients over the years who suffered from it, and once they had the offending implant removed, they no longer had any symptoms.
Hope this info helps out!
