Risk of Revision for Infection in Primary Total Hip and Knee Arthroplasty in Patients With Rheumatoid Arthritis Compared With Osteoarthritis

 

• If you have Rheumatoid Arthritis then chances are higher for you getting an infection requiring revision surgery.
• There is no difference between Rheumatoid and Osteoarthritis when it comes to hip replacements.

A major finding in the present study was that in Total Knee Replacements (TKR’s), an increased risk of infection leading to revision was seen in patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) compared with those with Osteoartritis (OA), whereas this was not seen in Total Hip Replacements (THRs). A possible explanation might be that the vulnerable soft tissue envelope around the kneejoint could make the TKR in RA patients more susceptible to infection, since the connective tissue disease RA and its potentially immunomodulating medication are risk factors for skin and soft tissue infections (29,30).

Reference:Risk of Revision for Infection in Primary Total Hip and Knee Arthroplasty in Patients With Rheumatoid Arthritis Compared With
Osteoarthritis: A Prospective, Population-Based Study on 108,786 Hip and Knee Joint Arthroplasties From the Norwegian Arthroplasty Register; JOHANNES C. SCHRAMA,1 BIRGITTE ESPEHAUG,1 GEIR HALLAN,1 LARS B. ENGESÆTER,2 OVE FURNES,2 LEIF I. HAVELIN,2 AND BJORG-TILDE S. FEVANG1Arthritis Care & Research,  Vol. 62, No. 4, April 2010, pp 473–479, DOI 10.1002/acr.20036, © 2010, American College of Rheumatology

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