Cut Calories After Knee Joint Replacement

A risk that is hard for a patient to avoid is weight gain after undergoing knee replacement surgery. Now another study, this one by the Mayo Clinic and Virginia Commonwealth University based on one of the largest knee replacement registries in the U.K., found that 30% of knee replacement patients gained an extra 5% of body weight in the 5 years following surgery. Only 19.7% of the general public gained the same amount of weight over the same time period.

The weight gain risk increased for those patients who went on to have additional joint replacement procedures performed. According to PRWeb, which published the report, the study authors concluded that patients who undergo knee replacement surgery “are at an increased risk of clinically important weight gain following surgery”.

The editors of Yourwellness Magazine reported in another study which found that weight loss can relieve the symptoms of osteoarthritis and may also prevent the condition from developing. Orthopedic surgeon Ryan C. Koonce, M.D., conducted the literature review, published in the Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.

He suggests that obesity could be a cause of osteoarthritis, triggering inflammation and adding to the pain and the increasing loss of mobility suffered by patients. The magazine editors explained that the results of the study suggest that approximately half of all cases of osteoarthritis of the knee in the U.S. could be prevented if the patient would lose enough weight.