From Arkansas to Alaska: Expanded Operation Walk USA to Provide Free Knee, Hip Replacements December 2-7

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Nov 26, 2013, 10:01 ET

Life-changing surgeries to restore mobility, provide pain relief for 230 individuals

ROSEMONT, Ill., Nov. 26, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- While more than one million hip and knee replacements are performed in the U.S. each year, countless men and women continue to live with severe arthritic pain and immobility because they cannot afford joint replacement surgery. Through Operation Walk USA 2013, an estimated 230 patients will receive free joint replacements from 130 volunteer orthopaedic surgeons at 70 participating hospitals, December 2 through December 7, 2013.

This year, Operation Walk USA has been expanded from one day to the entire first week of December to allow for more hospital, surgeon and patient participation. The number of patients and orthopaedic surgeons are more than double the number during Operation Walk USA 2011, the first year of the program. Operation Walk USA provides all aspects of treatment─surgery, hospitalization, and pre-and post-operative care─at no cost to participating patients who may not qualify for government assistance, have insurance or afford surgery on their own.

Arthritic disease is the most common cause of disability in the U.S., affecting approximately 48 million Americans, or more than 21 percent of the adult population. The debilitating pain of end-stage hip or knee degenerative disease often makes working, or completing even the simplest of daily tasks, excruciatingly painful or impossible. Hip and knee replacement surgeries are the most cost-effective and successful of all orthopaedic procedures, eliminating pain and allowing patients to resume active, productive lives.

"Helping someone to walk again, and to return to a life without pain, is indeed a cause worth celebrating," said New Albany, Ohio orthopaedic surgeon Adolph V. Lombardi, Jr., MD, president of Operation Walk USA. "Operation Walk USA is now in its third year of providing total hip and knee replacements to underserved patients. This year we have expanded the official dates of Operation Walk to help more patients in need.

"With the start of the holiday month this was also a timely way for orthopaedic surgeons and other health care staff participating in Operation Walk USA to give back in a profoundly meaningful way to their own communities," said Dr. Lombardi.

Operation Walk USA began in 2011 following the tremendous success of Operation Walk, an international volunteer medical service organization that provides treatment for patients with arthritis and joint conditions in developing countries. To date, more than 6,000 patients have received new knees and hips through the international Operation Walk, and nearly 300 patients through Operation Walk USA 2011 and 2012.

Device manufacturers Biomet, DePuy, Smith & Nephew, Stryker, Total Joint Orthopedics (TJO), Inc. and Zimmer are donating the hip and knee implants for Operation Walk 2013; Quill Medical, Inc., sutures; and Ortech Data, Inc., electronic medical record (EMR) management. Ortech will transfer Operation Walk USA 2013 Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) compliant data to the American Joint Replacement Registry, a national center for data collection and research on total hip and knee replacements.

Operation Walk USA 2013 facts:

Operation Walk USA 2013 will be held at hospitals throughout the country, December 2 through December 7, 2013.
An estimated 130 orthopaedic surgeons will provide hip and joint replacements, free of charge, to 230 patients at 70 hospitals.
Operation Walk USA 2013 is based on the successful experiences of Operation Walk, which has provided hip and knee replacements to thousands of patients throughout the world since 1996.
This is the third year for Operation Walk USA.
To find a list of participating orthopaedic surgeons and cities, visit www.opwalkusa.com, or follow Operation Walk USA 2013 on Facebook.