A study published in the peer-reviewed general medical journal The Lancet in February this year aimed to establish how long a knee and hip replacements last, and the news is very positive for patients with advanced osteoarthritis who are considering a hip or knee replacement.
Image: Number of knee replacements in Australia since 1999
The study findings show that the majority of hip (89 per cent) and knee (93 per cent) replacements lasted 15 years.
About 60% of hip replacements and 80% of knee replacements lasted 25 years.
According to the University of Bristol researchers these figures are expected to increase.
“Given the improvement in technology and techniques in the last 25 years, we expect that hip or knee replacements put in today may last even longer,” lead author Dr Jonathan Evans said.
The Lancet research involved about half a million osteoarthritis patient case studies who had joint replacements from six countries – Australia, Denmark, Finland, New Zealand, Norway and Sweden.
The research data were drawn from national database and joint replacement registries dating back more than 15 years.
Patients often ask surgeons how long a joint replacement will last, and there hasn’t been a clear answer – until now.
“Previous studies have been based on much smaller samples,” Dr Evans said.
Joint senior author Michael Whitehouse said the findings will help give patients a “reliable and evidence-based answer” to one of the most frequently asked questions when considering a joint replacement.