As many as 10,000 people need to have worn-out hip implants replaced each year in Britain, often after years of use. But Richard Howell, 60, was expecting his substitute joint to last much longer than it did: just five weeks after a hip resurfacing operation in 2002, his thigh bone fractured, landing him back in hospital.

“I was walking downstairs and as I turned a corner I heard a loud ‘click’, but it wasn’t uncomfortable so I thought nothing of it. But I woke up the next morning to find my foot swelled up and pointing in the opposite direction to the rest of me,” he said yesterday.

Mr Howell, an antiques dealer from Ipswich, said that it was never explained to him what had gone wrong. Doctors now consider this type of fracture to be a risk factor of hip resurfacing.

He had had the surgery because the pain in his left side had become unbearable. “A friend mentioned this operation and it looked great, but it wasn’t then available on the NHS, so I decided to have it done at a private hospital in Birmingham.

“It seemed like an operation designed for younger people like me – people were doing judo on the publicity material, saying ‘this could be you in a few months time’, but it wasn’t exactly like that.”

Instead, Mr Howell needed another operation to repair the damage caused by the fracture, and this time he elected to have the whole joint replaced with a conventional ball and socket prosthesis.

He has since had a similar operation on his other hip, this time on the NHS, in December 2005. “I’m very pleased with both joints now,” he said. “I don’t take unnecessary risks but I can lead a very active, enjoyable life.”

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