Joint replacement surgeries a growing trend in U.S., abroad

SALT LAKE CITY — One patient paid for his approximately $25,000 knee replacement surgery with a pile of pupusas for the staff, but the bean-filled tortillas weren't expected — payment never is.

In fact, each of the 44 complicated joint surgeries performed in El Salvador's capital city earlier this year were done free of charge for the patients, some of whom had waited decades for the opportunity.

"They don't have access to this kind of surgery at all," said Dr. Aaron Hofmann, a surgeon at Salt Lake Regional Medical Center who led a group of volunteers on a humanitarian medical trip to the Central American country in May. They took everything they needed to set up a three-day MASH-type clinic at a hospital there and Hofmann said they took home far more than they could ever have given the people there.

"Once you go, you're addicted," he said. "Even though it is a tremendous amount of work and you're volunteering your time and money to do this, you get so much more back than you actually give."

Hofmann helped to form a local chapter of Operation Walk three years ago and plans to head back to San Salvador, or another developing country, every year, "as long as I'm able."

A professor of orthopedic surgery and director of Salt Lake Regional's Center for Precision Joint Replacement, Hofmann will also perform about a dozen or so complimentary surgeries for Utahns in December. More information about that event, which will be held by at least 17 chapters nationwide, can be found online at www.operationwalkutah.org.

Hofmann said it is a growing concern for many people, as the Baby Boomer generation ages and as people everywhere become more active.

"Between living longer and leading more active lives, people are wearing out their joints," he said. "We think if everyone lived long enough, we would all wear out our joints."

Knee replacements are much more common for women than for men and one of the leading culprits is carrying around extra weight — no matter how much. Whether it is an extra 20 pounds or 50 pounds, Hofmann said it is wearing joints out prematurely.

One of the most memorable patients for the Operation Walk staff was a man, who works as a professional soccer scout, and had injured his knee playing soccer 30 years ago.

"You've got a guy with a 30-degree deformity in his knee for 30 years because there's absolutely no help," Hofmann said, adding that the man had hobbled around for decades, making the best he could of his situation.