Media Site

Pressures on the System

• Number of Surgeries
• Dramatic Results

Number of Surgeries

The number of surgeries done in BC has grown much faster than its population in the last 15 years, and continues to surge.

Some key factors behind this increase are:

• Better surgical techniques
  • Many operations today are less traumatic, with shorter recover times and less risk of complications or failure
• An aging population
  • The average age and life expectancy of the province's population is steadily increasing, and so is the number of 'wear and tear' conditions like heart problems, cataracts and knee and hip deterioration.
  • Today's seniors expect to be able to lead an active life for far longer than past generations

Dramatic Results

The results are dramatic. Compared to 1990/91, surgeons and hospitals in BC are doing:

• Five times as many angioplasties
• Almost four times as many knee replacements
• More than three times as many cataract surgeries
• Almost twice as many hip replacements and coronary bypass surgeries

• More Angioplasties (graph)
• More Coronary Bypass Surgeries (graph)
• More Hip Replacement Surgeries (graph)
• More Cataract Surgeries (graph)
• More Knee Replacement Surgeries (graph)