Technology Makes Knee Surgery Easier: More Baby Boomers Means More Replacements

CINCINNATI -- A surge in aging population will lead to a 70-percent increase in the number of hip and knee replacements. WLWT Eyewitness News 5's Lisa Cooney looked at the new technology that doctors are using to help give baby boomers a new lease on life.

Barb Listermann, a Tri-State area teacher, has been walking classroom floors for more than 30 years. Listermann has bad knees. Even her Rapid Run Middle School sixth-graders are well aware of her struggles.

"I guess you kind a of get used to it a little bit," Listermann said. "I go home exhausted and I've always been known to have a great deal of energy, but by the time I get home, I collapse. I don't have time for that because I have too many things I want to do."

Cooney reported that Listermann made the biggest decision of her life. At 53, she decided to have her knees fixed, with total joint replacements.

Her active lifestyle took a toll. Listermann has the cartilage-robbing condition called osteoarthritis. Her knees are bone on bone. They are swollen and deformed. She takes pain medications and has tried other treatments. Still, the constant shift from leg to leg is the only way to keep going. "I'm counting on the surgery to put me back to where I was and want to be," Listermann said.

"Five or 10 years ago, it was true that most total joints should be done in patients over the age of 65 because the longevity was about ten or 20 years," Dr. Mark Snyder said.

Snyder, from Wellington Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine, says that the advancements are staggering. "I'd say the biggest advance has been in materials and design," Snyder said. "The materials now are so highly refined and polished that they're beginning to approach the natural smoothness of the human joint."

The secret in the implants, Cooney reported, is in the metal. Zirconium is a component that is a metal. It is highly polished and highly resistant to scratching. Studies have already shown that the wear on the plastic is reduced almost 90-percent compared to some of the most highly polished metal surface.

"But again for those patients who are under age 55, its now possible to at least try these materials, and we really won't know for 30 or 40 years if it lasts 30 or 40 years," Snyder said. Listermann hoped that the new technology would improve her life.

Snyder, her doctor, began performing one of the most precise surgeries that there is, Cooney said, all within a millimeter of accuracy. After the scarring and spurs are removed, Snyder shaped the bones, preparing for the new joint. Even a fraction off can decrease the life of the implant.

Surgery on the left knee, from the first incision to closure, took about an hour. A few balance checks and it's on to the right side. Listermann will soon have new legs to stand on.

Cooney said that there is a major misconception surrounding joint replacement. A lot of people think that the decision to have the surgery is the hard part, when, in reality, the hard part comes after surgery.

Four weeks after her surgery, Listermann began seven to eight weeks of physical therapy. "It's not a walk in the park," Listermann said during a physical therapy session. "I'm not quite there yet. Hopefully in a few more weeks, I will be and I'll be glad that I did it."

Listermann knows that hard work and determination will put her back into action, Cooney said, and new technology will hopefully keep her there. "Hopefully I'll be good until 85 and sit in my rocker and rock away," Listermann said.

Listermann said that she expects to play golf in July and she will return to the classroom in the fall.