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Total Joint Replacement: Tackling a growing
epidemic
Newswise — The numbers of hip and knee replacement surgeries
have skyrocketed in the last 10 years.
The growth and aging of the population, particularly baby
boomers, and improved diagnosis and
treatment options will continue to
critically influence those numbers.
Richard Iorio, MD, senior attending orthopaedic surgeon at
the Lahey Clinic in Massachusetts said, “We
are preparing for an epidemic of serious
proportions.”
According to a new study by Dr. Iorio and his colleagues to
be presented at the 75th Annual Meeting of
the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons
(AAOS):
• In 2005, 285,000 total hip replacements and 523,000 total
knee replacements were performed in the
United States.
• By 2030, these two procedures are expected
to jump to 572,000 and 3.4 million,
respectively.
These figures represent a 101 percent increase in hip
replacements and a 525 percent increase in
knee replacements but are “just a small
slice of the pie,” Dr. Iorio said.
“The demand for these procedures will grow rapidly, and the
orthopaedic workforce will not be able to
keep up.
The supply of orthopaedic surgeons will only increase 2
percent during 2000 and 2020. What we have
on our hands is an access problem.”
Orthopaedic surgeons trained in joint replacement (also known
as specialists in adult reconstruction) are
usually the physicians surgically trained to
perform hip or knee replacement. In fact,
this specialized group will be the ones
faced with this dilemma.
A 2005 survey of more than 23,000 AAOS members revealed:
• 30 percent identified themselves as
general orthopaedic surgeons
• 13 percent of orthopaedic surgeons
identified themselves as specialists in
sports medicine
• 10 percent identified themselves as hand
surgeons
• Only 7 percent identified themselves as
primary surgical specialists for the adult
hip and knee
“Simply put,” Iorio added, “there will be a need for services
that overwhelms the supply of physicians who
will be able to fill that demand. Patient
care is of utmost concern to us. Getting
arthritic patients back to the quality of
life they once had is always first and
foremost. If these projections come to life,
the access for a joint replacement will
negatively impact patient care.”
Dr. Iorio and others will be discussing “Total Joint
Replacement: Tackling a Growing Epidemic” at
a media briefing to be held today at the
AAOS Annual Meeting in the Moscone
Convention Center, South Mezzanine, at 12:45
p.m., in Room 224. Dr. Iorio and the
panelists will discuss the depth of this
problem and what, if anything, can be done
to avoid it.
The panelists include: William Robb, III, MD, from Evanston
Northwestern Hospital, Daniel Berry, MD, and
David Lewallen, MD, both from Mayo Clinic in
Rochester, Thomas Fehring, MD, orthopaedic
surgeon at OrthoCarolina, and William L.
Healy, MD, from Lahey Clinic in Burlington,
Mass.
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