Third of knee replacement procedures shouldn’t have happened

One third of knee replacement procedures on arthritis sufferers shouldn’t have been carried out, a new study has discovered.
In addition, the need for the surgery was inconclusive in a further 22 per cent of cases, which suggests that more than half of all total knee replacement procedures are dubious.
In the 34 per cent of procedures that were ‘inappropriate’-or shouldn’t have happened-the arthritis sufferer wasn’t in any great pain and mobility was still good.
Only 44 per cent of procedures were fully justified, say researchers from the Virginia Commonwealth University in the USA, who analysed 175 cases of total knee replacement surgery. They say it is the first time anyone has analysed whether the procedure was necessary.
Around 600,000 knee replacements are performed in the US every year-and more than 200,000 of them could be unnecessary if the research findings are to be believed.
(Source: Arthritis & Rheumatology, 2014; doi: 10.1002/art.38685)

What do you think? Start a conversation over on the... WDDTY Community