Jun 29, 2019, 12:14 AM

@Ghost said in Real World Peeves, Disgruntlement, and Irks.:

My mom had a knee replacement surgery, and while it fixed the joint issues she says it hurts constantly. Turns out she is allergic to the metal that was used. Fucking yikes, right? She is allergic to an implant stuck inside of her body.

Anyway, does anyone know if allergy tests are supposed to be performed before replacement surgery? It seems logical to me that you'd test that first (because most allergies come in the form of "surprise, you're allergic to shrimp, now!")

Fucking yikes indeed. However, I actually know the answer to this one! (Not from a legal standpoint, per se, but from a "my maternal grandmother went through this, and I just checked, and it does not appear that standard practice has changed".)

Specifically, folks are not required to and will not by default perform an allergy test beforehand unless the patient has a history of metal allergies. (i.e., gets a rash when they wear silver earrings or rings, etc.) Metal allergies are so rare, and the allergies to biocompatible metals even moreso, that it's not generally worth the added cost and delay.

The Arthritis Foundation still has this information on their Metal Joint Implant Allergy page:

Should You Be Tested Before Implant Surgery? If you are going to have joint replacement surgery, ask your doctor if you should have an allergy test. Because metal allergies are relatively rare, testing before joint replacement surgery isn’t recommended for everyone, says Dr. Jacobs. However, if you’ve had a skin reaction to metal jewelry in the past, you probably should be tested.

In my grandmother's case, she did prove to be allergic (joint replacement in her hands for arthritis), so they had to go back in, remove the metal bits, and put plastic ones instead. She had not had a history of metal allergy, so she had not been tested.