The much-anticipated Polymotion Hip Resurfacing (HR) Device has been given FDA approval for an IDE study. Drs. Gross and Fowble at Midlands Orthopedics will be one of the study centers.

About The Device

This implant features a cemented cobalt chrome head and a Vitamin E crosslinked polyethylene socket with a thin layer of porous titanium coating. This "hybrid" implant is fixed with methyl methacrylate cement on the femoral side and bone ingrowth on the socket side. The thickness of these implants is the same as the current metal-on-metal devices. McMinn and Treacy have already published a small initial series with up to 2 years of follow-up with excellent outcomes.

About the FDA IDE Study

A limited number of these devices will be available at 10 sites across the country participating in the FDA IDE study. We have the largest experience and the best-published outcomes in hip resurfacing out of all these sites.

All patients consulting me submit a completed new patient consultation packet including digital X-rays. If you are interested in Polymotion, please read the detailed discussion provided here. Thereafter, if you decide you would like to enroll in this study, please write on the forms that you would like to be a study candidate.

While I offer hip resurfacing to virtually all patients with severe arthritis and can achieve excellent outcomes in the vast majority of complex cases, I will be more restrictive in this study. I will not offer Polymotion in cases where a cemented femoral component has an inferior outcome, or in other situations that I otherwise consider a high risk.

After I review your new patient consultation packet, speak with you by telephone and you are deemed a good candidate for the study, we will put you on a list and start filling surgical slots based on implant availability. We anticipate that the first few slots will become available sometime in July. We do not anticipate any cost difference, but there will be more stringent follow-up requirements due to the nature of an FDA IDE study.