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Obese patients have higher infection rates, complications after TKA surgery
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Obese patients have double the rate of infection and a greater risk of complications in general following total knee arthroplasty than patients with a normal body mass index, according to researchers from Amsterdam.
“Orthopedic operations can technically be more difficult in obese people and it is important for us to know whether there is a higher complication rate in the obese and if the long-term outcome is worse,” Gino M.M.J. Kerkhoffs, MD, PhD, lead author and orthopedic surgeon at the Academic Medical Center Amsterdam at University of Amsterdam, stated in a press release.
Kerkhoffs and colleagues identified 14 total knee arthroplasty (TKA) studies with 15,276 patients where infection was recorded. Overall infection had an odds ratio of 1.90 for obese patients to patients with a normal body mass index (BMI), while the odds ratio for deep infection in obese patients compared to normal BMI patients was much higher, at 2.38, according to the abstract. The researchers also noted that revision TKA for any reason, recorded in 11 studies with 12,101 patients, occurred more often in obese patients with an odds ratio of 1.30.
While Kerkhoffs and colleagues do not recommend against performing TKA in obese patients, they suggest surgeons inform their patients of the potential complications that could arise from the procedure.
“Although these results are not surprising, for the obese patient, this literature sheds new light on treatment options for symptomatic knee osteoarthritis: a total knee replacement is not the easy solution,” Kerkhoffs stated.
Reference:
Kerkhoffs GMMJ. J Bone Joint Surg Am. 2012;doi:10.2106/JBJS.K.00820.
