Cobalt-chrome modular neck hip replacements: risk of metal-wear effects and revision surgery (DSI/2026/010)
Read and act on the official notice on GOV.UK
In plain English, for the pharmacy team
Why is this relevant to community pharmacy
This is about certain older cobalt-chrome hip replacements, which are implants used in hip surgery. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has found a higher risk of wear and corrosion in some of these devices, and some patients may need review or revision surgery. Community pharmacy staff may hear from patients with these implants, or spot the issue if a patient asks about symptoms or follow-up.
What to tell patients
Use your professional judgement for each patient.
- Most people with these hip replacements have hips that work well and are thought to be at low risk of serious problems.
- A small number of patients may develop soft tissue reactions or other metal-related effects, and may need revision surgery.
- If you have one of these implants and have not already been contacted, you should expect to be contacted by your surgeon or implanting hospital for a clinical review.
- There is no need to contact your surgeon or implanting hospital directly.
- If you have new or unexpected symptoms such as pain, stiffness, or instability, speak to your implanting surgeon or the hospital where your surgery was done first.
- None of the implant systems investigated showed a higher-than-expected revision rate due to device fracture.
What needs to be done
- Be aware that this notice covers some cobalt-chrome modular neck hip replacements and does not apply to fixed-neck hip stems.
- There is no stock action for community pharmacy. The notice says there is no advice for distributors.
- If a patient asks about their implant, explain that the MHRA says patients with affected devices should be invited for a virtual or face-to-face clinical review by their surgeon or implanting hospital.
- Pharmacists: if the pharmacy becomes aware of a suspected device incident, report it through the Yellow Card system in England and Wales, or in Northern Ireland through the Yellow Card website in line with local device policies.
- Pharmacists: in Scotland, report device incidents to IRIC and the local incident recording system.
- Read and act on the official GOV.UK notice.
Pharmshark summary, checked and approved by Chris Dotchin on 2 Nov 2026. It is not the official notice: always read and act on the GOV.UK notice.
How this summary was written
An AI tool drafted it from the MHRA's own notice and nothing else. A second check compared every line with the notice. Pharmshark's clinical lead then read it against the notice, edited it where needed and approved it. If the MHRA changes the notice, this summary is taken down until it has been checked again.
The MHRA's summary
An MHRA investigation has found increased risks of wear and corrosion associated with multiple cobalt-chrome (Co-Cr) modular neck hip stem components, including a potential increased occurrence of revision surgery due to adverse local tissue reaction (ALTR).
MHRA's audience tags: General practice, Orthopaedics