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Smith & Nephew launches Oxinium - a significant technological advance to finding a hip replacement that will last a lifetime

March 30, 2004

1 April 2004, London, UK - A breakthrough in hip replacement technology from orthopaedic specialists, Smith & Nephew, means that nine million people who suffer with arthritis or chronic hip injury in the UK can now benefit from the new Oxinium hip, which could last their lifetime due to its superior strength and endurance. It also means that younger patients who have suffered severe pain and immobility while waiting years to be offered a hip replacement, may no longer have to.

In the UK, of the nine million people who suffer with arthritis, 50,000 need hip replacements each year due to osteoarthritis, but orthopaedic surgeons have traditionally delayed joint replacement surgery in patients younger than 60 because the implants currently used are not expected to withstand the wear placed on them for longer than 10 to 15 years. Replacing the hip the second and third time is less likely to succeed and is twice as costly as the first operation, costing the NHS an estimated £50 million each year.

Mr Fares Haddad, a leading UK orthopaedic surgeon at University College and Middlesex Hospitals, The Princess Grace Hospital, and the Wellington Hospital, London is a pioneer in using Oxinium hip implants.   He said, "The ultimate quest for surgeons and patients is to find a hip replacement that lasts a lifetime in order to prevent the need for further surgery in the future."   

With the launch of Oxinium patients can have hip replacement surgery much earlier because it is stronger, harder wearing, and less likely to fail due to wear and tear. Compared to the traditional cobalt chrome implant, Oxinium is 4,900 times more resistant to abrasion, 160 times smoother and twice as hard.   This means that there is less scratching with half the friction rate between the implant and plastic or cartilage surfaces- resulting in a dramatic decrease in wear, prolonging the survival of the replacement parts and the corrective surgery.

Implants are made up of three components, a socket cup, a femoral head, and a femoral stem that fits into the femur to secure the complete hip replacement in the leg. Mr Haddad added, "If we can find a hip replacement that is stable in all three aspects then we are a step nearer to finding a replacement that will last. With the Oxinium femoral head we are nearer to our goal as this addresses one of the most critical issues in orthopaedics today, namely that current implants will last longer if there's less wear    With Oxinium we now have a superior implant that is expected to last longer and will allow active, younger patients to benefit much earlier from a replacement hip."

Mr Haddad's patient, Jillian Clark, a 49-year old office administrator and mother of two teenagers, was one of the first people in the UK to benefit from an Oxinium hip implant, which was necessary in order to relieve the constant pain in her left hip caused by osteoarthritis. She said, "Before having this new Oxinium hip I could only walk a certain distance, had to think about avoiding standing for long periods, and suffered with dreadful pain. I am now pain free, and my new hip has meant that the leg length has been adjusted to the same as my right leg, so I no longer limp, and my back pain has gone. It is such a relief because I can now walk my dog for as long as I like and can think about going to concerts again where I may have to stand. It really has completely changed my life and even the small things most people take for granted I really appreciate that I can do, like walking my dog and having normal balance."

Until recently, cobalt chrome with a plastic (polyethylene) bearing (socket lining) has been the material of choice for hip replacements because of its strength and relative hardness. However, the motion and friction caused by daily living can damage the implant's surface and cause metal and polyethylene wear debris, ultimately causing bone loss and the need for another implant.   Laboratory studies have demonstrated that even a single scratch on the cobalt chrome surface can increase the rate of plastic wear by 10 times, and substantially reduce the life span of an implant. It is now recognised that the failure rate of replacement hips starts to increase rapidly beyond ten to 12 years.

British company Smith & Nephew developed Oxinium, a new metallic alloy, in response to the orthopaedic community's concerns over wear and tear of current implants. After 15 years of development and biomechanical testing, orthopaedic surgeons have been using Oxinium in knee replacements for more than six years (first in the USA and then recently in the UK), and in over 25,000 patients, with great success. The same technology and testing applies to the hip replacement and the result is superior long-term durability that is expected to last the lifetime of a patient. In the USA, over 7000 devices have already been implanted.

"We believe that Oxinium is challenging current technology to offer patients optimal treatment for hip replacement surgery," said Carl Herdman, Hip Product Specialist for Smith & Nephew "When we first developed oxidized zirconium we realised that this hard-wearing metallic alloy had broad application in joint replacement surgery. Following the success already seen with Oxinium in total knee replacements we are pleased that we can now offer this unique technology to even more patients with different joint replacement needs."

Smith & Nephew is a global medical device company that develops, manufactures, and markets a wide range of clinically advanced tissue repair products, primarily in the areas of orthopaedics, endoscopy, and wound management. In particular, the company focuses on clinically proven and innovative technology that will benefit the healthcare system by improving patient care, reducing healthcare costs, and educating and training healthcare professionals.

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