This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
Ischemic heart, digestive system-related disease linked with increased mortality rate following THA, TKA
Although ischemic heart disease was the main cause of death 90 days following total joint replacement for osteoarthritis, recently published results showed an increase in postoperative deaths associated with digestive system-related disease.
Martyn L. Porter, FRCS, of the Centre for Hip Surgery in Lancashire, United Kingdom, and colleagues compared causes and rates of mortality among 332,734 patients who underwent total hip arthroplasty (THA) and 384,291 patients who underwent total knee arthroplasty (TKA) with age- and sex-matched individuals in the general population.
.jpg)
Results showed main causes of death following total joint replacement included malignant neoplasms, circulatory system disorders, respiratory system disorders and digestive system diseases. Compared with individuals in the general population, researchers noted a relative reduction (39%) in mortality among patients who underwent THA, which equalized to the rate in the general population by 7 years. The relative reduction (43%) for patients who underwent TKA partially attenuated by 7 years, but did not equalize to the rate of the general population.
“We see that this sort of ‘well patient effect’ seems to gradually fall off slightly more for hips and slightly less for knees in that total hips after about 7 [years] to 10 years are more like normal comparisons than with knees,” Porter told Healio.com/Orthopedics.
The most common cause of death within 90 days was ischemic heart disease, researchers found, while circulatory, respiratory and digestive system-related causes elevated the risk of death within 90 days postoperatively compared with 91 days to 1 year postoperatively.
“We know we are practicing safe surgery; however, if there are some initiatives to improve matter further, then [we should] possibly look more closely at ischemic heart disease and for [gastrointestinal] GI complications,” Porter said. – by Casey Tingle
Disclosure: Porter reports no relevant financial disclosures. Please see the full study for a list of all other authors’ relevant financial disclosures.