What percentage of U.S. adults, age 50 and older, are walking around on total knee replacements? Alexander M. Weinstein, of Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, and his colleagues utilized the OsteoArthritis Policy Model, combined it with data on the utilization of total knee replacement and came up with an answer.
Four Million Knee Replacements in U.S.
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HealthDay News reports the researchers estimated that the number of U.S. adults currently living with a total knee replacement is four million. This means that about 4.2% of adults, ages 50 years or older, have had a knee replacement. The prevalence of total knee replacement increases with age and is higher among females (4.8%) than males (3.4%). For females and males, the lifetime risk of primary total knee replacement from the age of 25 years is 9.5% and 7.0%, respectively. More than half of U.S. adults who have been diagnosed with knee osteoarthritis will undergo total knee replacement.
“While total knee replacement is a remarkably successful treatment for individuals with end-stage knee osteoarthritis, our findings emphasize the large public health burden posed by the millions of adults in the U.S. living with total knee replacement, ” the authors wrote.
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This is a fascinating development. In my practice we've seen similar outcomes with the revised protocol. The key differentiator seems to be patient selection criteria. Has anyone else noticed the correlation with BMI thresholds?
Great point. I'd push back slightly on the conclusion, the sample size in the cited study is too small to draw population-level inferences. That said, the directional signal is compelling and worth a larger RCT.
We implemented a similar approach last year. Early results are promising but we're still gathering 12-month follow-up data. Happy to share our protocol if anyone is interested.
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