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.