THE HSE is to carry out a detailed review of a particular type of hip operation carried out at Cork University Hospital after 4 per cent of patients had to be recalled for revision surgery.
The review by orthopaedic surgeons at the hospital will try to compare the Cork experience to international findings.
Between 2005 and 2008, 417 mainly elderly patients underwent a hemiarthroplasty, to treat a hip fracture, with a prosthetic device comprising a cup and stem used to replace the femoral head.
However, 17 of these patients experienced some loosening of the device sooner than was expected, so the orthopaedic team at the hospital offered a check-up appointment and X-ray to all those who had undergone the procedure between 2005 and 2008.
Last February, the HSE South wrote to 247 patients and to their GPs; 139 of them took up the offer and attended for check-ups at the hospital and an X-ray of the hip they had fractured.
Ten of these people underwent revision surgery at the hospital to correct the loosening of the device. A small number are under ongoing review and a further six revision surgeries are scheduled to take place in 2012.
According to the HSE South, Cork University Hospital is the only hospital in the State to experience difficulties with this particular hip operation, which involves the use of devices from two separate companies.
The HSE South says it will now carry out an analysis to see how Cork compares internationally regarding the loosening of hip fracture devices.
The spokeswoman added that a precise comparison would not be possible because this type of data was not routinely collected in Ireland or elsewhere in Europe, the US or Canada.
