
Leading orthopedic surgeons recommend cobalt and chromium blood testing every three months for as long as a patient has a metal on metal hip in their bodies. The good news is that most people are able to take chromium without any problem. You can still have metal poisoning with no symptoms. This is why it’s important to know what kind metal on metal hip replacement you have, and to ask your doctor if you should get regular blood tests for metal ion levels.Ĭobalt and chromium blood testing is critical, even if you don’t have any symptoms or physical issues with your hip.
CHROMIUM SIDE EFFECTS MAYO CLINIC SKIN
Some adverse reactions can be cured by a revision surgery or other medical interventions, but only if done early enough. Repeated skin contact with chromium dusts can lead to incapacitating eczematous dermatitis with edema. The earlier you get medical care, the better. Often there are no immediate physical signs of a problem, but the hidden damage that these metals can do to your body is traumatic. If not, you may want to request these advanced tests from your doctor, even if you don’t have any symptoms. If your concentration of cobalt and chromium remains above a safe level, your doctor will probably recommend a MARS MRI and/or ultrasound and more testing. This is a situation that requires long-term medical monitoring.

See your orthopedic surgeon and primary care physician immediately. Serum concentrations greater than 10ng/mL in a patient with cobalt-based implant suggest significant prosthesis wear.” What Should I Do if I Have Elevated Metal Levels? Toxic concentrations are greater than or equal to 5.0 ng/mL. 'In patients with adverse local tissue reaction, the synovial fluid cobalt and chromium concentrations were 120 and 414 times higher than whole blood chromium and. High Cobalt Levels: Greater than 10ng/mLĪdditionally, the Mayo Clinic Medical Laboratories reports that “cobalt is not highly toxic, but large doses will produce adverse clinical manifestations. The Metals Laboratory evaluated chromium and cobalt concentrates in EDTA whole blood, serum and synovial fluid collected from patients undergoing hip revision surgery at Mayo Clinic.

High Chromium Levels: Greater than 1ng/mLĪccording to the Mayo Clinic Medical Laboratories, “blood serum concentrations greater than 1ng/mL in a patient with Cr-based implant suggest significant prosthesis wear.” Their research also indicates that these levels increase the longer you have the hip implant. The Mayo Clinic has set a much lower reference value for blood testing for chromium and cobalt, listed below. released a report saying that concentrations higher than 7 parts per billion (ppb) of cobalt and/or chromium are of concern. There is not enough evidence to show that taking chromium supplements improves the way your body uses sugar (glucose tolerance). Slightly elevated metal levels are normal for patients with metal on metal hip replacements. Lack of chromium may lead to nerve problems and may decrease the bodys ability to use sugar properly. If you miss taking chromium supplements for one or more days there is no cause for concern, since it takes some time for your body to become seriously low in chromium. What is Considered a High Level of Chromium and Cobalt?
