A recent study, authored by Steven M. Kurtz, director of the Philadelphia office of the engineering and scientific consulting firm Exponent Inc., reported that “the number of first-time total knee replacements would soar by 673 percent, to 3.48 million, by 2030, while the number of first-time total hip replacements would increase by 174 percent to 572,000.
Partial joint replacements are projected to increase by 54 percent in the next 25 years.”
The study also projected that total knee and hip revision joint replacement (repair or replacement of an artificial joint) surgeries will likely double by 2015. Currently, hip revisions are done more often than knee revisions, but that is projected to change by the year 2007.
Orthopedic surgeons note that the dramatic rise in the need for such surgery is partially due to wider acceptance of the procedures on the part of potential candidates for the surgery. “There are few procedures that return as much quality of life as joint replacement," said Kurtz, who is also research associate professor at Drexel University's School of Biomedical Engineering in Philadelphia.
Other reasons include the increasing rate of obesity among adults in the United States and a larger aging population of baby boomers who are suffering the affects of diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis. These same baby boomers are also staying physically active longer than their parents or grandparents did - working out and participating in sports - therefore putting more stress of their knees and hips.
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