Big rise in hip replacements over last decade

NHS data has shown that the number of hip replacement operations on people aged under 60 has risen 76% in the last decade. More and more people under the age of 60 are turning to hip replacement surgery as a remedy for chronic hip pain, according to new NHS data. The Royal College of Surgeons has analysed statistics released by the Health & Social Care Information Centre showing that hip replacements are becoming more common among younger patients, which is indicative of growing confidence in this type of treatment. The growing demand for hip replacements According to the data, there were 89,919 hip replacement operations conducted through the NHS in England in 2004–05, but this number rose by 47% to 122,154 in 2014–15. When looking specifically at people under the age of 60, the speed of this growth was even more pronounced. Whereas 10,145 hip replacements were recorded for patients aged 59 and below in 2004–05, this had increased to 17,883 a decade later. It represents a rise of 76%, suggesting surgical treatment for hip problems is no longer seen as an option only for older patients. An increasingly beneficial treatment strategy Stephen Cannon, vice-president of the Royal College of Surgeons, said this trend reflects the growing availability of improved hip replacement techniques and prosthetics, which means surgeries are now safer and require less recovery time. In the past, typical prosthetics lasted only around 15 years before needing replacement b...
Source: Arthritis Research UK - Category: Rheumatology Source Type: news