Jumps forward: Advances in orthopedic procedures are helping a growing number of hip- and knee-replacement patients heal faster with less pain.

• Author: Wood, Suzanne
• Position: SPONSORED SECTION: ORTHOPEDICS

It wasn't that long ago that hip- or knee-replacement surgery involved a hospital stay of up to several weeks. It wasn't any easier for patients after they were discharged, when an often painful and physical-therapy filled recovery could stretch into months. For some, returning home was delayed by a prescription for inpatient rehabilitation.

Most orthopedic patients travel a shorter and smoother road today. They brag about the ease of their hip or knee replacement, which often is completed the same day that they return home. That was the case for one of North Carolina's best-known residents, Duke University men's basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski. He had a total-knee replacement in August. But instead of the standout he is along the sidelines, this accomplishment made him just one more in a growing crowd.

The first hip-replacement surgery was completed in 1960, and the first knee replacement followed eight years later, according to Rosemont, Ill.-based American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. Rockville, Md.-based Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the fact-finding arm of U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, reports that more than 600,000 total knee replacements and 300,000 total hip replacements are performed each year in the United States.

But as more baby boomers enjoy their 70s and the oldest Generation Xers enter their 50s, demand for hip and knee replacements is growing. Researchers in an AHRQ-funded study estimated that about 7 million Americans had had a total hip or knee replacement by 2010, including more than 600,000 individuals who had both procedures. That number is expected to jump to 11 million by 2030, when it will be one of the most common elective surgeries in the U.S.

While demand for these surgeries is increasing, instances of complications, hospital stays and recovery times are decreasing. That's not because of one magic pill, but a combination of pre-operation patient management, better surgical techniques and new anesthesia and pain-management options. "I tell my patients, 'It's a great time to have orthopedic surgery,'" says Scott Hannum, an orthopedic surgeon at Wilmington-based EmergeOrtho and chairman of Wilmington-based New Hanover Regional Medical Center's orthopedics department, where he and his colleagues operate. "We're doing so much better than we were even five years ago when it comes to knee and hip replacements. It's an evolution on multiple fronts."

One of the primary reasons that knee and hip replacements are safer and less...