Trend Is Younger for Knee Replacement

Knee replacement patients in the UAE (United Arab Emirates) are getting younger. The reason, says orthopedic surgeon Suad Trebinjac, M.D., is obesity and a lack of exercise. Trebinjac, a consultant in physical medicine and rehabilitation at the Rashid Hospital, said that on an average he sees four to five patients every six months below the age of 65 for knee replacements.

He blames it on what he calls the “obesity epidemic” which is causing earlier degeneration of the leg muscles and the onset of osteoarthritis. “The sedentary lifestyles and limited physical movements cause weakening of the leg muscles putting the load and pressure on the knees. Besides that, people in this region have more foot deformities such as flat foot where the arches are not well formed, once again stressing the joints of the ankle and the knee and causing degenerative changes, ” he said.

“Compared to Europe where people opt for knee replacement only when confined to a wheelchair, here younger people opt for knee replacements to have a better standard of living when they cannot manage the pain. However, this needs investigation as to why the average age for knee replacement is going down, ” he added.

According to Kutaiba Salman, M.D., a specialist orthopedic surgeon at Cocoona Centre for Aesthetic Transformation and Day Surgical Centre, the incidence of total knee arthroplasty (TKA) and of total knee replacement (TKR) has risen worldwide: “The volume of TKA or TKR has increased dramatically over the last two decades worldwide. The percentage of the relatively young patients who have undergone TKA has also increased substantially.”

This trend is confirmed by the American Association of Orthopaedic Surgeons which states that the average age for knee replacement is getting younger than 65 worldwide. In the U.S. every year 1 million total knee arthroplasties are conducted, while in the UK the number stands at 600, 000.