The best summary of my experience as index case of Orthopedic-Implant-Cobaltism (OIC) and the author of that case report October of 2010 is my 4.5 minute podium at the 2024 AAOS annual meeting that is posted here. For those with more time and interest consider the Netflix documentary THE BLEEDING EDGE. My experience as cobaltism patient and as a surgeon with cobaltism is portrayed in the session finale of GRAY’s Anatomy, and in a more general fashion as patient vignettes in HOUSE, NEW AMSTERDAM, AND THE RESIDENT.BOTTOM LINES1. Orthopedic Surgeons should stop implanting cobalt-chromium knee, hip, shoulder, and spine implants. There are safer, proven, equally efficacious and economical options.2. Patients considering a knee, hip, or shoulder replacement or a spinal reconstruction should have their surgeon sign an affidavit that no cobalt-chromium parts with be implanted.3. Patients already with knee, hip, or shoulder replacement or spinal instrumentation should consider a urine-cobalt level at a Quest Lab after abstaining from any specific vitamin B12 supplement for two-weeks. If that level returns ≥ 1 ppb then one’s primary medical provider should be made aware. Bring to that professional’s attention to our JAMA and PLOS-ONE publications, this will insure that optimal screening and treatment of cobaltism occurs.
Listed skills include Primary And Revision Hip Replacement Surgery, Research Interest In The Failure Modes Of Hip And Knee Replacements, Http, Statistics, and 19 others.
