Give the elderly a break! Healthy patients in their 80s and older do just as well after joint arthroplasty as do younger patients. Researchers at the University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada, checked on 454 patients who had received either a hip or a knee replacement. Sixty-nine of the patients were 80 years old or older while the remainder were between the ages of 55 and 79.
Elderly Do Just Fine With Joint Arthroplasty
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Researchers evaluated them one month before their surgery and six months postoperatively for pain, function and health-related quality of life, according to Geof Michaels, writing in News Fix. The researchers found that there was no age-related difference in joint pain, function or quality of life and that their age did not significantly determine the patients’ pain or function.
On the negative side, they found that, regardless of age, when they matched the patients with the general population for age and sex, no subject who had received a joint replacement achieved comparable overall health. At the conclusion of the study, the Canadian researchers said that age should not be the only limiting factor when considering who should have joint replacement surgery.
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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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