Prof. Ove Furnes

Prof. Ove Furnes is a professor of orthopedic surgery at the University of Bergen and a senior consultant at Haukeland University Hospital — Norway's largest hospital and a leading centre for complex orthopedic surgery in western Norway. With more than 28 years of clinical and research experience, he has become one of the world's foremost authorities on joint replacement surgery and arthroplasty outcomes research.

Prof. Furnes is best known internationally for his central role in the Norwegian Arthroplasty Register (NAR), one of the world's oldest national joint replacement registries, founded in 1987. The NAR captures detailed data on every hip and knee replacement performed in Norway, enabling robust long-term analysis of implant survival, surgical technique, fixation methods, and revision rates across the entire Norwegian patient population. Prof. Furnes has served as the register's scientific leader and has used its data to produce over 300 peer-reviewed publications that have influenced arthroplasty practice worldwide.

His clinical practice at Haukeland University Hospital encompasses the full spectrum of hip and knee replacement surgery, from primary total hip and knee arthroplasty in patients with osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis, to complex revision arthroplasty in patients with implant failure, periprosthetic joint infection, or periprosthetic fractures. He is one of Norway's most experienced revision arthroplasty surgeons.

As a professor at the University of Bergen, Prof. Furnes supervises PhD students and postdoctoral researchers working on arthroplasty registry methodology, implant science, and periprosthetic joint infection. He contributes actively to the Nordic Arthroplasty Register Association (NARA), which pools data from the national registers of Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and Finland to enable even larger-scale comparative analyses.

Prof. Furnes completed his medical degree at the University of Bergen before undertaking specialty training in orthopedic surgery at Norwegian teaching hospitals. He pursued subspecialty training in hip and knee arthroplasty at Haukeland University Hospital, which has been his primary clinical and academic base throughout his career.

His PhD research examined the long-term survival and failure modes of cemented and cementless hip prostheses using data from the Norwegian Arthroplasty Register, laying the groundwork for his subsequent career as a preeminent arthroplasty registry researcher. He completed additional training in revision arthroplasty techniques, including complex acetabular and femoral reconstruction, and has participated in advanced surgical training programmes at leading European arthroplasty centres.

He holds the European Fellowship in Orthopaedic Surgery and Traumatology (FEBOT) and is a full professor at the University of Bergen Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry. He is board-certified in orthopedic surgery within the Norwegian specialist system and has served on the board of the Norwegian Orthopaedic Association (NOF) and as scientific co-chair of multiple EFORT congresses.

Prof. Furnes performs a high volume of total hip arthroplasties and total knee arthroplasties for patients with end-stage osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and avascular necrosis of the femoral head. He is skilled in both cemented and cementless fixation techniques and uses implant selection guided by the evidence from his own registry research — selecting prostheses with proven long-term survival records.

Revision arthroplasty is a major component of his surgical practice. He manages patients with failed primary hip or knee replacements due to aseptic loosening, periprosthetic joint infection, implant fracture, or dislocation — including highly complex cases requiring custom implants, bone grafting, or acetabular cage reconstruction. He is one of Norway's leading surgeons for the management of periprosthetic joint infection (PJI), with expertise in two-stage revision strategies and antibiotic-loaded cement spacers.

Unicompartmental knee replacement (UKR) is also within his clinical repertoire, offered to appropriately selected patients with medial compartment knee osteoarthritis as a less invasive alternative to total knee arthroplasty. He maintains close collaboration with his institution's rheumatology, infectious disease, and rehabilitation teams to optimise outcomes across the full arc of patient care.

Prof. Furnes has authored or co-authored over 300 peer-reviewed publications in journals including Acta Orthopaedica, the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery (JBJS), Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research (CORR), and the Bone and Joint Journal. Many of his publications are based on data from the Norwegian Arthroplasty Register and the Nordic Arthroplasty Register Association (NARA).

His research covers a broad range of arthroplasty topics: long-term implant survival, the comparative effectiveness of cemented versus cementless fixation in hip and knee replacement, the risk and management of periprosthetic joint infection, peri-prosthetic fractures, and the influence of patient factors (age, sex, BMI, diagnosis) on arthroplasty outcomes. His work on cementless fixation has been particularly influential, with studies showing that survival rates for uncemented hip prostheses have improved substantially as implant design and surgical technique have evolved.

Prof. Furnes also leads NARA collaborative studies that pool data from the national arthroplasty registers of Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and Finland, enabling analyses of over 1.5 million joint replacements — providing statistical power to answer questions that no single national registry can address alone. These collaborative studies have been published in high-impact journals and cited in arthroplasty guidelines internationally.

Prof. Furnes consults in Norwegian and English and welcomes referrals from international patients seeking expert opinion or surgical care for complex hip and knee replacement problems. Haukeland University Hospital in Bergen is a well-equipped university hospital experienced in receiving international patients for elective and urgent orthopedic procedures.

EU/EEA patients may apply for cross-border healthcare funding, and the hospital's international patient services team can assist with referral coordination and pre-operative assessment. Non-EU patients are seen on a private referral basis. Video consultations for pre-operative planning, second opinions on complex revision cases, or post-operative review are available, making it practical for international patients and their referring surgeons to access Prof. Furnes's expertise without requiring initial travel to Bergen.

For patients with periprosthetic joint infection or complex revision arthroplasty needs, early telemedicine consultation with Prof. Furnes's multidisciplinary team is encouraged to plan the optimal surgical and antibiotic strategy before undertaking travel for definitive surgery.

Prof. Furnes has been recognised by EFORT with its Research Award, one of European orthopedic surgery's most prestigious research distinctions, acknowledging his outstanding contributions to arthroplasty outcome science. The Nordic Arthroplasty Register Association (NARA) has honoured him with the Nordic Arthroplasty Register Prize for his leadership of collaborative Nordic arthroplasty research.

The Norwegian Medical Association has awarded him its Research Award in recognition of his contributions to evidence-based orthopedic practice in Norway. He is a sought-after invited lecturer at EFORT, ISTA (International Society for Technology in Arthroplasty), and Nordic Orthopaedic Federation congresses. He has served as editor and reviewer for Acta Orthopaedica and other leading orthopedic journals, and his work continues to be cited extensively in arthroplasty clinical guidelines worldwide.