Average joint op age increasing

More than 100 New Zealanders in their 90s - and one person over 100 - have received hip-joint replacements in the past five years.

The figures are expected to grow substantially as the population ages, with hip and knee joint replacement operations forecast to double by 2051.

The National Joint Register five-year report shows people aged from 15 to 100 received new hips but the average age of the 23,457 patients was 67.

About 85 per cent of patients were pleased with their surgery.

Professor Geoffrey Horne, past president of the New Zealand Orthopaedic Association, said the average age of joint replacement patients was likely to increase as the population aged.

Surgery on people in their 90s was aimed at maintaining independence and ensuring they had a comfortable life, he said.

A joint replacement was not done if a person had a lot of other risk factors and was not going to benefit from it.

"If you were harsh you could say if they are in their 90s you should put them in a nursing home and tell them to sit there until the reaper comes.

"A lot of people are very active in their 90s and want to stay that way. It's all about quality of life."

The register's supervisor, Professor Alastair Rothwell, said it was the first in the Southern Hemisphere and the only one in the world to include patient input and information on hip, knee, ankle, shoulder, elbow and lumbar spine disc replacements.

"With the number of hip and knee joint replacements forecast to double by 2051, the register will become an invaluable monitoring and auditing tool."

Professor Rothwell said the results at five years showed New Zealand compared favourably with Northern Hemisphere register reports.

It also found that joint replacements done in New Zealand were equally successful regardless of location.

Last year, Health Minister Annette King announced that an extra $70 million would be spent on orthopaedic services. The Government aimed to double the number of hip and knee joint replacements from 4665 a year to more than 9300 nationally by 2008.

Operation tally

* Total number of joint replacements, 45,776, includes 23,457 primary hip joints, 693 primary shoulder replacements and 14,371 primary knee joints.

* More than 100 New Zealanders in their 90s and one over 100 have received new hip joints.

* The average age of hip-joint replacement patients was 67 years.