According to the AP, knee replacement surgeries have more than tripled in the last decade for people in the 45-to-64 age group - from 264,311 in 1997 to 621,029 in 2009. TV ads show people water skiing with their new knees or hips. We want to be fixed and we usually want it “now.” Joint replacements have enabled millions of people to lead better lives, but we don’t really know how long they will last with all of our running and skiing and tennis playing.
Artificial knees have been lasting 20 years, according to a study presented at a recent orthopedics conference, but that’s in people who go watch their grandkids’ soccer game. We don’t know how long they will last in people who actually want to play soccer.
”Besides the usual risks of surgery – infection, blood clots, anesthesia problems – replacing joints in younger people increases the odds they’ll need future operations when these wear out,” specialists caution.
Another side of this advancement as heard on NPR’s Morning Edition is that the FDA is now asking the manufacturers of “metal on metal” hip replacements to take a closer look at how their patients fare after surgery.
This is in response to consumer complaints about the implants. It has been found that metal shavings can sometimes cause infection, severe damage to local tissue, and allergic reactions. There have been some rare reports to the FDA about cases of enough metal released into the bloodstream to cause problems with a patient’s neurological system or heart.
Even amid concerns about certain models of artificial hips, Dr. Joshua Jacobs, chairman of Rush University Medical Center’s orthopedic surgery department, says most patients have no problems and are doing extremely well with their new artificial hips.
3 comments:
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