The global hip and knee replacement markets are mature and established, with large multinationals maintaining the majority of global market shares. Although global trends for implant adoption have been identified, such as physician favor for a cemented knee implant as the gold standard, a snapshot of the 2016 hip and knee markets in Australia, Germany, and the UK reveals that these trends may not be as widely embraced as previously perceived.

These three countries, which exhibit similar population demographics and states of development, display a wide range in the utilization of cemented, cementless, and hybrid implants for both hip and knee replacement. While cost containment measures in Europe have stunted the growth of innovative and premium-priced cementless options, the variation in implant types may also be explained by physicians’ willingness to embrace novel implants. A lack of uniform implant choice in primary hip and knee replacement procedures across all markets demonstrates that physicians do not agree about the most effective way to treat a patient requiring a hip or knee replacement, and further, that manufacturers have yet to develop the best iteration of these devices.