Knee replacement surgery less satisfactory in younger people

 Younger people who have knee replacements (under 55 years) are less satisfied with the outcome of surgery than people aged 65 years to 85 years, even though they gain greater improvement, says a UK study published in the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery.

Data was collected from more than 2,000 people who had knee replacement surgery from four centres in the Oxford area.

“Clearly expectations are higher in younger people: they expect that they will have a completely normal knee after the operation, and be able to do all the sports and activities they did prior to surgery, and that’s not always the case,” explains Prof David Beard who worked on the study. “Older people tend to be are less active, and hence happier with the outcome.”