Global orthopaedics market to contract by over 20 per cent in 2020 due to COVID-19: GlobalData

Hip devices market recovering faster than knee, due to the less elective nature of hip procedures

Following reports that elective surgeries being deferred or cancelled during the COVID-19 pandemic, the orthopaedic devices market has been highly affected. Against this backdrop, the global orthopaedic procedures are set to decrease by over 20 per cent over the course of this whole year, according to GlobalData.

Tina Deng, principal medical devices analyst, GlobalData, comments, “The pandemic will have a lasting impact on the orthopaedics market. GlobalData expects it may take over six months to return to 90 per cent of the pre-COVID level of elective orthopaedic surgeries globally. Every country has a unique situation in terms of COVID-19 prevalence, healthcare infrastructure, staffing capabilities, and personal protection equipment supply; therefore, the recovery rates vary widely.

“While countries like Germany and China demonstrated sharp V-shaped quick recoveries, most countries gradually made progress back to normalisation. The UK, India, and Latin America lagged in terms of recovery, creating a drag on overall global performance.”

Within the orthopaedic space, the knee market has been severely hit by COVID-19, followed by the hip market. An analysis of GlobalData’s monthly SKU data analysis reveals that the hip and knee market dropped by approximately 70 per cent in Q2 in the US compared to last year.

According to a release, the hip market is recovering faster than the knee business, because of the less elective nature of hip procedures. The top non-elective procedures include traumas, amputations, and oncological procedures. Dislocations and fractures, including hip, pelvis, and forearms, should only be considered for treatment in urgent cases.

As a result, most companies reported mild revenue declines in their trauma business. However, the trauma market continued to be under pressure due to fewer road accidents and reduced physical activities related to widespread quarantines.

Deng concludes that since most healthcare facilities have adequate stockpiles of the necessary equipment for a potential second wave, healthcare systems in general are better equipped to address the pandemic in the coming months than they were early this year, which gives hope to the market in the upcoming quarters.