A WOMAN who suffered blood poisoning after a hip replacement has warned others may be at risk.

Tracie Ephgrave, 48, of St John’s Road, Colchester, is suing the manufacturer of the replacement joint.

Her lawyer told her there could be hundreds of people in the region with the same problem which has gone undiagnosed.

Mrs Ephgrave underwent hip surgery at Colchester General Hospital in 2001 after suffering from a form of arthritis since she was 11.

Within two years, she heard a clunking noise coming from the hip.

Two years later the problems had worsened and she was in constant pain.

Mrs Ephgrave’s surgeon carried out a number of tests over the next two years until a blood test detected excessively high levels of chromium and cobalt.

They found that the metal-on-metal joint replacement was rubbing and sending filings into her blood stream.

The mother-of-one underwent a full replacement in April this year to correct the problem.

Mrs Ephgrave, an avid dancer and swimmer, said: “I just don’t want people to go through what I have. I have had a permanent ceramic hip put in.

“If I have to go through something like this again, I would go mad.

“If you are suffering then you need to go back to the hospital and get a blood test to make sure it is not doing what it did to me.

“I never thought of going to a solicitors, but I keep hearing of things going wrong. Something needs to be done.”

Mrs Ephgrave has praised the surgeons at Colchester General Hospital and vowed to carry on dancing and exercising.

Solicitors Holmes and Hills said they were representing scores of hip patients in Essex and across the country.

They have has asked hospitals to recall patients with any brand of metal-to-metal replacement, suspecting they could be equally as dangerous.

Jacqui Sayer, a senior member of the personal injury team acting for Mrs Ephgrave, said: “We have been approached by a large number of concerned individuals implanted with a variety of metal-on-metal hip implants.

“We are now investigating all of these.

“We strongly believe the problem is far more widespread than many originally thought.”

Metal-on-metal hip replacements are still widely used.

Holmes and Hills, based in Braintree, would not disclose the name of the manufacturer in Mrs Ephgrave’s case.

A spokesman for the firm said it refuted the claims and would issue a full statement in due course.