Knee & Hip replacement | Good tips from New York Times resources

The New York Time published a extremely valuable article about hip and knee implants over the 4th of July weekend. According to statistics, about 806,000 such procedures were performed in the US in 2007. This is twice as many as were performed a decade earlier. Though routine, replacements are not without risk or potential for a future replacement.

Dr. Henrik Malchau, an orthopedic surgeon at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston told the NY Times that implants must sometimes be replaced. According to a 2007 study, 7 percent of  hip implants in Medicare patients had to be repeated within seven and a half years.

Dr. Malchau states that while this may seem insignificant, the study suggests that thousands of hip patients eventually require a second operation. That translates into additional recoveries, and increased medical expenses. The failure rate should be lower. Dr. Malchau and Dr. Daniel Berry, chief of orthopedic surgery at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. had some very good suggestions to improve the success rate for seniors undergoing hip and knee replacements. Photo credit Mayo Clinic.

EXPERIENCE:  Choose — or request a referral to — an experienced surgeon at a busy hospital.

VOLUME MATTERS:  One study quoted by the Times found that patients achieved better success when having the procedure done by doctors who performed more than 50 of them a year when compared to surgeons who did 12 procedures or fewer a year.

ADJUST EXPECTATIONS:  Doctor Berry addressed the issue that joint replacements are not for everyone. There are always complications and risks to be considered. In other words, a benefit / risk analysis should be done.

NARROW YOUR OPTIONS:  There are many manufacturer of joints. The patient needs to work with the surgeon to choose one that is appropriate / best for him or her.

the  “There is no one best joint,” Dr. Berry said. “A successful replacement depends on selecting the right implant for the patient.”

GATHER INFORMATION:     Get more than one opinion. Then do some research on your own to find out what is know about which joint has a better performance history. 

You may read the entire article, Getting a New Knee or Hip? Do It Right the First Time , by Lesley Alderman, N.Y. Times July 2, 2010 here.

Comments

[mortage new york]

Will the health care reform that is going on make prescription drugs more affordable?

[DePuy Compensation]

The recent recall of DePuy ASR hip replacement systems has left many people concerned and wondering what to do about compensation.

[DePuy Asr Recall]

Thanks for the tips. This would certainly help a person in making informed choices with regards to hip replacement. Sometimes it's the lack of information that pushes us to make the wrong decisions and not to question our doctors because we are at a loss at what they are talking about. Mind you, some doctors do this on purpose. I've always had compunctions about hip replacement surgery because of the DePuy ASR recall.

[Lawyers for hip replacement]

Seven percent doesn't sound that bad when we compare these numbers with the thirteen percent failure rate, over a five year period, of the recalled Depuy implants. This way it is easily understandable why the recalls have been issued, and this failure rate is almost double then industry standard.