Temporal trends in age distribution of patients undergoing total and unicompartmental knee arthroplasty in The Netherlands from 2007 to 2025: A nationwide Dutch Arthroplasty registry study.
Approval date: November 25th 2025
HA Zuiderbaan, DS Gravemaker, RJM Vossen, IN Sierevelt, GMMJ Kerkhoffs
Research proposal abstract:
This study will be conducted as a retrospective population-based registry analysis to examine temporal trends in the age of patients undergoing primary total (TKA) and unicompartmental knee arthroplasty (UKA) in The Netherlands.
Knee arthroplasty is among the most effective surgical interventions for end-stage osteoarthritis (OA) 1,3. Over the years, alterations in surgical indication and patient expectations as well as advancements in surgical techniques and implant design may have influenced the demographics of patients receiving these procedures 4,5. Of particular interest is whether there has been an increasing proportion of younger patients, undergoing TKA and UKA, to provide a more comprehensive understanding of demographic trends 5,6. Additionally, it is of interest whether there is a difference in the proportion of younger patients between the various hospital types (e.g. private clinic, private hospital and academic hospital) as it may be expected that younger, healthier patients with a lower ASA classification may have a higher tendency to undergo the knee arthroplasty at a clinic or private hospital.
Anonymized patient data from the Landelijk Register Orthopedische Implantaten (LROI) will be utilized, which has systematically been collected since 2007. No linkage with other databases is planned. Key variables include patient age, procedure date, joint replacement type and hospital identifiers.
Findings will provide critical insights into evolving patient demographics, inform healthcare planning, and guide long-term orthopedic strategies.