Joint replacement is usually reserved for patients who have severe arthritic conditions.  

Circumstances vary, but generally patients are considered for total joint replacement if:

• Functional limitations restrict not only work and recreation, but also the ordinary activities of daily living.
• Pain is not relieved by more conservative methods of treatment — such as medications, physical therapy, the use of a cane, and/or by restricting activities.
• Stiffness in the joint is significant.
• X-rays show advanced arthritis or other problems

Interestingly…

• With every step you take, your moving body puts pressure roughly equal to three times your weight on your hips and knees.
• More than 24 million Americans currently suffer from limitations associated with arthritis.
• More than half of the population 65 or older show X-ray evidence in at least one joint.

Facts About Arthritis

• Arthritis is the leading cause of disability among adults in the U.S.
• An estimated 1 in 6 people in the US have some form of arthritis
• Around 44% of adults with doctor-diagnosed arthritis also had arthritis-attributable activity limitations in 2013-2015.
• Adults with arthritis are 2.5 times more likely to sustain a fall-related injury compared with adults without arthritis.
• Knees are the most commonly injured part of the body as a result of sporting activities. Individuals with knee injuries have a 6-fold greater risk of developing osteoarthritis, which is the leading cause of joint replacement
• Rheumatoid arthritis, the most crippling form of arthritis, affects approximately 2.1 million Americans and 2-3x more women than men. The average onset for rheumatoid arthritis is between the ages of 20 and 45 years old.
• 90% of joint replacements are done because of osteoarthritis.

Joint Replacements

• More than 7 million Americans are living with an artificial (prosthetic) knee (4.7 million) or hip (2.5 million)
• Joint replacement has been found to result in significant restoration of function and reduction in pain in over 90% of patients
• 95% of hip replacements last >15-20 years
• 85% of knee replacements last >20 years
• A study released in 2002 showed that patients who opted to postpone joint replacement surgery the longest had more pain and less mobility than patients who didn’t wait.

Hip Replacement

• Over 325,000 hip replacements are performed in the U.S. each year
• 64% of hip replacement patients are women
• 33% of hip replacement patients are between the ages of 45 and 64

Knee Replacement

• Approximately 700,000 knee replacement procedures are performed annually in the US. This number is projected to increase to 3.48 million procedures per year by 2030
• 63% of knee replacement patients are women.
• 50% of the patients now receiving knee replacements are younger than 65 years of age.