Heart Attack Risk Soars After Joint Replacements

Have osteoarthritis (OA) and planning joint replacement surgery? Pay attention to your heart. A handful of studies have found that people with osteoarthritis who have joint replacement surgery are at risk for a heart attack in the month following the procedure. The study found that the risk went on over time but patients remained at risk for a blood clot in the legs or lungs for up to three years following the joint replacement surgery.

The results of the studies, some of which were conducted in the United Kingdom, were somewhat contradictory. According to Clint Witchalls, writing for Web MD, one study found that people with osteoarthritis who had a total knee or hip replacement were at 44% reduced risk of heart attack, stroke or other “cardiovascular event.” The study followed the participants for seven years but excluded those who may have experienced a cardiovascular event shortly after having their surgery.

Another study found that people who had total hip or knee replacement surgery had a 25- to 31-fold increased cardiovascular risk during the first weeks after surgery.

In a major study conducted in the United States, according to Witchalls, researchers wanted to find out the short and long-term risks of total joint replacement for people with osteoarthritis. They examined data on 13, 849 patients with OA who had the surgery and compared them with 13, 849 similar individuals who had OA but did not have total knee replacement surgery.

“They also examined the data on 6, 063 people with osteoarthritis who had total hip replacement surgery and compared them with 6, 063 similar individuals who did not have total hip replacement surgery”, wrote Witchalls.

They learned that people who had total knee replacement surgery were almost nine times more likely to have a heart attack in the first month after surgery. The researchers compared this to the experience of people who also had osteoarthritis but did not elect to have the surgery. This became the control group. They also found that people who had total hip replacement surgery were four times more likely to have a heart attack in the month following surgery than were members of the control group.

The risk of heart attack dropped dramatically after one year post surgery. Among the knee replacement patents the risk dropped to the level of the control group. For hip replacement patients, the risk dropped to the same level as the control group within three months. The studies were published in the journal Arthritis and Rheumatology.