Not enough doctors for boomeritis epidemic

SAN FRANCISCO, March 6 (UPI) -- The need for joint replacements required by aging baby boomers may cause an epidemic that the orthopedic workforce can't handle, a U.S. researcher says.

Dr. Richard Iorio, an orthopedic surgeon at the Lahey Clinic in Massachusetts, says that in 2005, 285,000 total hip replacements and 523,000 total knee replacements were performed in the United States. But by 2030, these two procedures are expected to jump to 572,000 and 3.4 million, respectively, as "boomeritis" -- joint and bone ailments -- explodes.

"The demand for these procedures will grow rapidly, and the orthopedic workforce will not be able to keep up," Iorio says in a statement. "The supply of orthopedic surgeons will only increase 2 percent during 2000 and 2020 -- there will be a need for services that overwhelms the supply of physicians who will be able to fill that demand."

A 2005 survey of 23,000 orthopedic surgeons revealed 7 percent identified themselves as primary surgical specialists for the adult hip and knee, 30 percent identified themselves as general orthopedic surgeons, 13 percent identified themselves as specialists in sports medicine and 10 percent identified themselves as hand surgeons.

The findings are being discussed at the 75th annual meeting of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons in San Francisco.