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Knee Replacement in RA Patients

Does RA increase risk of adverse events?

Publish date:: May 20, 2015

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) does not increase the risk of adverse events following total knee arthroplasty (TKA), according to a study of 477 patients in an institutional registry. The study compared adverse events in 159 TKA patients with RA to 318 TKA patients with osteoarthritis. Researchers found:

• Although patients with RA had worse baseline pain and function and lower perceived health status, there were no deep infections in either group and no difference in superficial infection, myocardial infarction, or thromboembolism

Despite worse preoperative function and high use of steroids and nonbiologic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs, the RA patients’ complications were not increased.

Citation: LoVerde ZJ, Mandl LA, Johnson BK, et al. Rheumatoid arthritis does not increase risk of short-term adverse events after total knee arthroplasty: a retrospective case-control study. [Published online ahead of print May 1, 2015]. J Rheum. doi:10.3899/jrheum.141251.

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