While 3.9 million Americans currently have a BMI of 50 or higher, only 11% of surgeons would be willing to perform a joint replacement or spine procedure on patients in that weight bracket.
For high-BMI patients, not getting joint-replacement care can also result in harmful side effects. Now, several patients are turning to alternative methods of weight loss, including weight loss medications and bariatric surgery, to lower their BMIs.
Patients with a BMI of over 40 have 4 times the risk of a prosthetic joint infection, 2 times the risk of revision surgery and 4 times the risk of wound dehiscence, according to an October report from Zimmer Biomet.
Across the industry, about 10% of patients are too heavy to undergo joint replacements. Since 2011, the rate of bariatric surgery in patients has more than quadrupled.
The number of U.S. patients undergoing bariatric surgery from 2011 to 2021:
2011: 28,124
2012: 57,090
2013: 75,359
2014: 99,781
2015: 105,448
2016: 125,318
2017: 135,401
2018: 154,976
2019: 152,413
2020: 122,056
2021: 152,866