A research team led by Mayo Clinic has found a national trend toward younger, more diverse patients having total knee replacement surgery. The findings were presented in March at the 2010 annual meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons in New Orleans and are similar to what Luther Midelfort orthopedic surgeons have been encountering. 

Mayo Clinic researchers and orthopedic surgeons Drs. Michele D'Apuzzo and Rafael Sirra found the average age of total knee replacement patients decreased by two years (from 70 years to 68 years) between two time periods and that the percentage of minorities increased by 1.4 percent (from 8 percent to 9.4 percent).…

"Similar to our colleagues at Mayo Clinic, we're also seeing people choosing to have the procedure at a younger age," said Dr. Rusty Brand, a Luther Midelfort orthopedic surgeon who specializes in the procedure.

WQOW, 4/13/2010

Tags: Drs. Michele D'Apuzzo and Rafael Sirra, knee surgery, Orthopedics