Nickel sensitivity and the implantation of orthopaedic prostheses.

There is no evidence that nickel-sensitive patients, when given a modern plastic-to-stainless-steel hip replacement, develop cutaneous reactions or loosening of their prostheses. However, eczema is occasionally seen with static metal prostheses and eruptions sometimes accompanied the use of the older types of joint prosthesis. Modern plastic-to-metal joint replacements rarely cause sensitization to the composite metals. In the rare instances when this has been detected by patch testing, the affected patients have not developed eczema or loosening of their prostheses.