Orthopedic surgery continues to change at a great pace. Improved implants provide an increased range of motion with enhanced stability and durability. Minimally invasive techniques lessen soft-tissue damage for expeditious discharge and rehabilitation. Going forward, computer-assisted surgery is poised to help ensure reproducible and accurate placement of implants.
Most important, however, procedures have become safer even as they’ve become more complex.
These developments are responsible, in part, for another evolution: the increasing age of patients undergoing orthopedic surgery. In 2022, there were more than 18.5 million orthopedic procedures performed in the United States, and about 50% of these procedures were for people over the age of 65.
Certainly, the growth is fueled by the increase in the over-65 population, which grew 34% from 2010 to 2020. But another factor is higher utilization. In a three-year period, 13.6% of people over 65 years old had orthopedic treatment – this is about 50% higher than other adults. This is partly due to increased longevity, but another factor is a changing mindset.