An Analysis of Foot and Ankle Device Recalls by the Food and Drug Administration

Introduction Orthopaedic devices represent 12% of all medical device recalls. Products are approved through pre-market approval (PMA) or the 510(k) premarket notification process. No previous evaluation was found in the literature evaluating foot and ankle device recalls. The field of foot and ankle subspecialty has seen a rapid growth in innovation related to implants in recent years. Methods The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Device Recall database was evaluated for all foot and ankle devices from 2007 through 2017 for the manufacturer, process of approval, type of implant, recall class, dates of initiation and termination of the recall, manufacturer determined reason, quantity affected, and distribution within the United States or internationally. Results A total of 161 products from 33 companies were identified with 158 (98.1%) approved through the 510(k) process. The most common reason for device recall was due to the device breaking intraoperatively or postoperatively. The average length of the recall was 487.5 days. Conclusions Device recall is not an uncommon event with the majority of products approved through the less demanding 510(k) process.