Senior Women May Need 25 Percent Fewer Knee Replacement Surgeries If They Take This Drug

DePuy Knee Lawsuit News

Bisphosphonates improve bone health in senior women and could lessen osteoarthritis, the main cause of knee pain

Monday, July 22, 2019 - The number of total knee replacements per year is expected to increase over the next decade to around 3.5 million units per year. The majority of people that elect to have knee replacement surgery are senior citizens between the ages of 65 and 86, and some even older, that are suffering from osteoarthritis and osteoporosis. Senior women account for over 60% of all total knee replacements and suffer from bone density deficiencies more than men. Osteoarthritis and osteoporosis are the leading cause of pain in knee joints that require surgical treatment. DePuy knee lawsuits in the United States are represented by top national attorneys with vast experience handling these type of cases and offer a free no obligation consultation.

The number of total knee replacement could actually be reduced over the years to come if more women were to seek an alternative treatment with a bisphosphonate, a new and potentially breakthrough osteoarthritis application. It is estimated that women taking bisphosphonates could require 25% fewer total knee replacements.

Wikipedia.org describes the osteoporosis wonder drug as "Bisphosphonates are a class of drugs that prevent the loss of bone density, used to treat osteoporosis and similar diseases. They are the most commonly prescribed drugs used to treat osteoporosis. They are called bisphosphonates because they have two phosphonates (PO(OH) 2."

Scientists studying the drug think that better bone density health would translate into less severe osteoarthritis and less need for total knee replacement surgery. Tuhina Neogi, M.D., Ph.D., professor of Medicine and of Epidemiology at the Boston University School of Medicine recently told Ryortho.com, "Such a finding would suggest that bisphosphonates were beneficial in preventing osteoarthritic knees from progressing to a severe stage requiring surgery." Dr. Neogi thinks that targeting bone a woman's overall bone health may translate to better knee joint health, less severe osteoarthritis and a reduced need for knee replacement surgeries. According to Ryortho.com, the doctor stated, "We found that women who were on bisphosphonates had about a 25% lower risk of going on to have a knee replacement surgery than those who were not on bisphosphonates over an average of three years of follow-up."

Reducing the number of required knee replacements surgeries is of paramount importance as knee replacement surgery should be looked upon as a treatment of last resort when dealing with osteoarthritis pain. Total knee replacement should be avoided at all cost. Few senior citizens have the ability to perform the regimen of physical rehabilitation exercises for years after surgery that is required and are most often left in as much pain after the surgery as they were before. Infections are a common occurrence with implanted artificial knees and require a series of major surgeries to correct. The first is a hospital stay and intravenous antibiotic drip followed by removing the artificial knee. Infected tissues then need to be cut away including any infected bone. Third, an antibiotic-packed spacer needs to be put into the open knee wound and left there for a period of time until the infection clears up. It is only then that the new artificial knee can be surgically implanted, the wound is sewn up, and the patient can begin recovery. In spite of undergoing all this, there is no guarantee that another infection will not follow in the weeks or months to come. It is much more desirable to give Bisphosphonates a try as the first line in osteoarthritis pain treatment.

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