US sees increase in joint replacements

According to US doctors, more than two in every 100 Americans now have an artificial joint. For those aged over 50, 5% have a knee replacement and 2% have a hip replacement. Around 7 million people in the US now have a knee or hip replacement.

Speaking to Fox News, Dr Daniel J Berry, chairman of orthopaedic surgery at the Mayo Clinic referred to these as “remarkable numbers”. The 45 to 64 age group has seen knee replacement surgery triple in the last ten years and almost half of all hip replacements are being carried out on people aged under 65.

Berry was the first doctor to lead a major study estimating how prevalent these procedures have become, using federal databases on surgeries and life expectancy trends. The results were reported recently at an American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons conference in New Orleans.

While over 600,000 knees and about 400,000 hips are replaced in the US annually, data has not been available on the number of people living with new joints. The figure is set to rise as we live longer. Other factors such as obesity and an increase in sports activities are also factors in the rise in joint replacements.