About Joint Replacement: Did You Know?

Joint replacement (the term orthopaedic surgeons use) 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, arthroscopy (cleaning the joint), 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. Source: “The Age of Arthritis,” Time Magazine, December 9, 2002.
• More than 20 million Americans currently suffer from osteoarthritis. (Ref: National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases)
• By 2010, 39.7 million Americans (13.2 percent) will be 65 years old and over, and by 2030, up to 20 percent of the U.S. population will be over age 65 (U.S. Census Bureau, 2000a; U.S. Census Bureau, 2000b).
• More than half of the population 65 or older would show X-ray evidence in at least one joint. (Source: “Handout on Health: Osteoarthritis, NIH Publication No. 02-4617.” National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Departments of Health & Human Services. July 2002.

Facts about Arthritis

• Approximately 70 million, or one-third, of Americans suffer from some form of arthritis or a related disorder¹³
• Nearly 21 million Americans suffer from Osteoarthritis, a degenerative joint disease that is a leading cause of joint replacement surgery¹⁴
• Arthritis is the leading cause of disability among adults in the U.S.¹⁵
• Knees are the most commonly injured part of the body as a result of sporting activities. Individuals with knee injuries have a six-fold greater risk of developing osteoarthritis, which is the leading cause of joint replacement¹²
• Rheumatoid Arthritis symptoms usually begin in middle age, but can occur in individuals in their 20s and 30s¹⁴
• Rheumatic diseases are the leading cause of disability among persons age 65 and older.**
• Approximately 20.7 million adults in the United States have the most common form of arthritis, osteoarthritis, also called degenerative joint disease. Most persons over the age of 75 are affected with osteoarthritis in at least one joint, making this condition a leading cause of disability in the US.**
• Rheumatoid arthritis, the most crippling form of arthritis, affects approximately 2.1 million Americans and two to three times more women than men. Further, the average onset for rheumatoid arthritis is between the ages of 20 and 45 years old.**
• An estimated 43 million people in the US have some form of arthritis (one in every six people).**
• It is estimated that by the year 2020, 60 million people in the United States will have arthritis.**
• 90% of joint replacements are done because of osteoarthritis. ***

Joint Replacements

Joint Replacement

• Joint replacement has been found to result in significant restoration of function and reduction in pain in over 90% of patients¹²
• Younger and more active patients are undergoing joint replacement earlier, driving the need for high-technology implants that last longer and support active lifestyles¹²
• It is estimated that today, over 300,000 Americans a year undergo total hip replacement surgery, while more than 250,000 Americans have knee replacement surgery every year. (Source: “Learn About Joint Replacement.” Your Joint Replacement Resource Center, WebMD.)
• The majority of joint replacement osteoarthritis patients feel that their joint replacement feels normal (47%) or natural (33%). (Harris Interactive® Patient Study commissioned & conducted by Stryker, September 2003)
• Overall, there has been an improvement in quality of life, participation in activities, and emotions toward the condition since joint replacement surgery.) (Harris Interactive® Patient Study commissioned & conducted by Stryker, September 2003)
• Before joint replacement surgery, osteoarthritis patients had difficulty performing a wide range of routine tasks, especially physical exercise and sports (89%) or carrying out daily chores (69%). (Harris Interactive® Patient Study commissioned & conducted by Stryker, September2003)
• 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.***
• The clinical trials for Stryker’s innovative ceramic-on-ceramic hip involved over 1,100 people who had hip replacement with this revolutionary implant.
• The extreme hardness of Stryker’s alumina ceramic is second only to diamond, so it offers greater scratch resistance than the metal or polyethylene (plastic) used in conventional hip replacements.*

Hip Replacement

• Approximately 300,000¹ hip replacements are performed in the U.S. each year
• 64% of hip replacement patients are women¹¹
• 33% of hip replacement patients are between the ages of 40 and 64¹¹

• In 2001, Baby boomers had 35,000 hip replacements — or 21% of the procedures. Source: American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.

Knee Replacement

• Approximately 300,0001 knee replacements are performed in the U.S. each year
• 64% of knee replacement patients are women¹¹
• 33% of total knee replacement patients are between the ages of 40 and 64¹¹

 

---

References

1. National Development Conference, National Institute of Health, December 2003.

2. Romanowski, M.R. and Repicci, J.A. Minimally invasive unicondylar arthroplasty: eight-year follow-up. Journal of Knee Surgery Vol. 15(1), pp. 17-22.

3. Newman, J.H., Ackroyd, C.E. and Shah, N.A. Unicompartmental or total knee replacement? The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery Vol. 80-B, pp. 862-865, 1998.

4. Lindstrand, A. Surgery for unicompartmental osteoarthritis of the knee: high tibial osteotomy, unicompartmental arthroplasty or total replacement. European Federation of National Associations of Orthopaedics and Traumatology pp. 105-111.

5. Schwartz, T.D., Battish, R. and Lotke, P.A. The role of unicompartmental knee arthroplasty. Seminars in Arthroplasty Vol. 11, pp. 241-246, 2000.

6. Deshmukh, R.V. and Scott, R.D. Unicompartmental knee arthroplasty: Long term results. Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research Vol. 392, pp. 272-278, 2001.

7. Mahoney, O.M., McClung, C.D., Phil, P. and Schmalzried, T.P. Improved extensor mechanism function with the Scorpio Total Knee Replacement. 45th ORS, 1999.

8. White, R., Allman, J., Trauger, J. and Dales, B. Clinical comparisons of the midvastus and medial parapatellar surgical approaches. Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research Vol. 367, pp. 117-122, 1999.

9. www.webmd.com

10. Habermann, E.T., Borden, L.S., Hedley, A.K., Hungerford, D.S. and Krackow, K.A. A multicenter review of patella complications using a modern design total knee system. Accepted at the 1998 Knee Society Meeting.

11. Ortho Fact Book™ US 3rd Edition. Knowledge Enterprises, 2202-2003.

12. Merrill Lynch Orthopaedic Industry Report, 2002.

13. Prevalence of self reported arthritis or chronic joint symptoms among adults — United States, 2001. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report Vol. 51(42), October 25, 2002.

14. www.arthritis.org

15. Prevalence of disabilities and associated health conditions among adults — United States, 1999. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report Vol. 50(7), February 23, 2001.

*The Journal of Arthroplasty Vol. 17 No 4 2002

** The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the Arthritis Foundation

Source: “More Boomers Have Hip and Knee Replacements.” Associated Press, May 13, 2003.***