Total Joint Arthroplasty Lowers Cardiovascular Risk

According to a study reported by Kelly Young in NEJH Journal Watch, total joint arthroplasty is associated with reduced cardiovascular risk among patients with knee or hip osteoarthritis.

Researchers in Canada identified 150 people, 55 years old or older, who suffered from moderate-to-severe knee or hip osteoarthritis and had undergone a total joint replacement. They matched this group to people of the same age with osteoarthritis who had not had the surgery.

They found that people who underwent arthroplasty were less likely to have a serious cardiovascular event during seven years of follow-up compared with those who did not have surgery. The authors offer several potential explanations for the surgery’s observed cardiovascular benefit, including improvements in exercise capability, relief of pain and concomitant psychosocial stress, and reduced need for non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.

The researchers conducted the study at Women’s College Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. In the discussion section of their report they wrote, “This population based study of people with moderate-severe osteoarthritis shows that undergoing an elective primary total joint arthroplasty within three years of initial assessment was associated with a significant 40% reduction in subsequent risk of serious cardiovascular events in patients who survived until the landmark date (three years from the baseline questionnaire). This translated into an absolute risk reduction of 12.4%…. To our knowledge, this is the first study to demonstrate a possible cardioprotective benefit of total joint arthroplasty.”