Number of insertions of primary knee prostheses per 1,000 inhabitants, 50 years and older
For patients aged 50 and older, 7,503 knee prostheses were implanted in 2022, increasing to 8,562 in 2024. This corresponds to a 14% increase. There was a slight decline in the number of surgeries during the pandemic year 2020. After the pandemic, the level has been higher than before.
The figures include both total and partial prostheses. The proportion of partial prostheses has steadily increased over time, rising from 12% in 2015 to 18% in 2024.
There is geographical variation in surgery rates. In the catchment areas with the highest rates, more than twice as many operations per 1,000 inhabitants are performed compared to those with the lowest rates. In 2024, the rate ranged from 2.4 in the catchment area of Lovisenberg to 5.3 in Førde.
The ratio of total to partial prostheses varies significantly between different catchment areas. In 2024, the proportion of patients receiving a partial prosthesis ranged from just under 6% in Helgeland to nearly 34% at UNN.
Women undergo surgery to a greater extent than men, with 57% of operations performed on women in 2024. The average age among operated patients aged 50 and older was approximately the same for both sexes in 2024, around 70 years.
The analysis is based on activity data from the Norwegian Patient Register (NPR) for somatic specialist healthcare services. The data includes activities in public hospitals and private hospitals providing publicly funded services.
The selection includes patients registered with one or more of the following six procedure codes:
Where the patient was treated is divided into three categories:
Knee prosthesis implantation is primarily performed on adult patients. Therefore, the population includes only patients aged 50 and older. In 2024, a total of 181 surgeries were performed on patients under 50 years old, of whom 162 were between 40 and 49 years old.
In order to compare the catchment areas and between years, the rates have been adjusted for gender and age. The adjustment was done using the direct method with the countrys population in 2023 as the reference population.
SKDE is solely responsible for the interpretation and presentation of the data provided by NPR. FHI/NPR is not responsible for analyses or interpretations based on the data.
All of the data used in the charts for this analysis can be downloaded as a CSV file.
