Orthopaedic Wait Times In Canada
“According to the Canadian Orthopedic Association, as of this year, more than 160,000 patients in Canada are waiting for orthopedic surgery. The wait time between an appointment with a specialist and orthopedic treatment is 32.4 weeks, making it the second-highest speciality wait time for surgery in Canada.” CTV News September 7, 2023
There are two categories of wait lists in Orthopaedics.
1. Wait Time to see a Orthopaedic Surgeon:
The first wait list is the time between when a surgeon receives a referral letter from a physician to when the patient is physically seen for the first time by a surgeon.
Just because a patient is offered an appointment with a surgeon does not mean the patient will be offered surgery.
Only after a surgeon examines a patient can they determine if surgery is indicated.
2. Wait Time to Undergo Surgery:
The second wait list is time between the date a patient signs documents to proceed with surgery and when the patient actually undergoes surgery.
This data is collected and reported by provincial health organizations.
Hip Replacement Wait TImes
- Before the pandemic, it took 271 days for 90% of all patients waiting for hip replacement to undergo surgery.
- In 2021, it took 369 days for 90% of all patients waiting for hip replacement to undergo surgery.
Knee Replacements Wait Times
- Before the pandemic, it took 314 days for 90% of all patients waiting for knee replacement to undergo surgery.
- In 2021, it took 425 days for 90% of all patients waiting for knee replacement to undergo surgery.
Hip and Knee Replacement Data
In 2020-2021 there were 55,300 hip replacements and 55,285 knee replacements performed in Canada. This was a reduction of 12.9% for hip replacements and 26.4% for knee replacements from 2019-2020.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, 48,000 fewer hip and knee replacements were done in the past 2 fiscal years. This means that when the pandemic ended there were
Gender
56% of hip replacements and 57% of knee replacements were performed on females in 2020-2021.
Age
The most common age group for hip replacements was 75 years and older with 43.9% in males and 31.4%in females.
The most common age group for knee replacements was 64 to 74 years with 42.4% in males and 41.5% in females.
Diagnosis
The most common diagnosis for primary hip replacements was osteoarthritis at 69.4% of all patients – the second most common diagnosis was an acute hip fracture at 26.4%.
The most common diagnosis for primary knee replacements was osteoarthritis at 99% of all patients.
Hospital Stay
The average length of stay for a hip or knee replacement in 2020-2021 was 3.8 days.
Cost
The average cost of a hip or knee replacement hospitalization in 2020-2021 was $11,793 which was 11.9% higher than in 2019-2020.
In 2020–2021, the hospital-related cost of hip and knee replacements (including physician cost and excluding rehabilitation costs) was $1.3 billion. This cost was $157 million dollars lower than 2019-2020 because of a 20.2. % reduction in the total number of replacements performed.
Source
Canadian Institute for Health Information. Hip and Knee Replacements in Canada: CJRR Annual Report, 2020–2021. Ottawa, ON: CIHI; 2022.
Cette publication est aussi disponible en français sous le titre Arthroplasties de la hanche et du genou au Canada : rapport annuel du RCRA, 2020-2021.
ISBN 978-1-77479-129-5 (PDF)
To read a copy of the 2020-2021 Hip and Knee Replacements Report, click here.