One-third of knee replacements in the U.S. may be inappropriate

By Will Boggs MD NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Judging by the symptoms of people with knee arthritis, one-third of knee replacement surgeries may be inappropriate, according to a new study. “We found that some patients undergo total knee replacement when they have very low grade symptoms or minor knee arthritis,” lead author Daniel L. Riddle from Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond told Reuters Health in an email. The number of total knee replacement surgeries done each year more than doubled between 1991 and 2010, leading some to question whether the procedure is overused. To get a better idea of what is going on, Riddle and his team analyzed data from a study of about 4,800 people in the U.S. with knee osteoarthritis or at high risk of the condition.