Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration has issued an alert for the risk of fracturing of a  component used in some hip replacement procedures.

The agency warned that all product lots of the Profemur Long and Extra-Long Titanium Modular Necks are at risk of fracturing, and that the risk cannot be detected during surgery by visual inspection or any other technique.

The devices have not been used in Australia since 2012, but patients who had a hip replacement in 2012 or earlier may have had the component implanted, the agency said.