| "> | | | | people this will involve joint replacement. |
| Osteoarthritis (OA) is the commonest joint | | | | Quality of life improvements after medical |
| degeneration condition in the world, resulting in huge | | | | interventions vary but for joint replacement are |
| amounts of pain and suffering, work loss, expense | | | | some of the highest of all medical procedures. Hip |
| and disability. Ageing of western developed | | | | replacement has a long history but the 1960s saw its |
| populations, soon to be followed by some developing | | | | development into a reliable procedure, with modern |
| countries such as China, will place an increasing burden | | | | developments making it a predictable and very |
| on medical services as the occurrence of OA rises | | | | successful treatment for hip osteoarthritis. It is used |
| steadily with age. There will be an increasing need to | | | | to manage a variety of complex hip conditions with |
| provide medical and physiotherapy treatment for OA | | | | excellent outcomes at fifteen years and beyond. |
| over the next 50 years and for many thousands of | | | | |