“Our findings provide the first general population-based evidence that osteoarthritis patients who have total knee or total hip replacement surgery are at increased risk of heart attack in the immediate postoperative period”.

“Our research examines if joint alternative surgical procedure reduces danger of great cardiovascular occasions amongst osteoarthritis sufferers”, says Prof. All the participants in the study were 50 years of age or older and diagnosed with osteoarthritis after January, 2000 but before December, 2012. It is the most common form of arthritis and affects 27 million American adults (over the age of 25). The study also revealed that in the group that underwent the operation, the risk of heart attack was higher during the first month after the surgery and gradually declined over time.

Among those with hip OA who underwent hip arthroplasty, 128 had a heart attack during follow-up, compared with 138 controls.

During the average follow-up period of 4.2 years, 306 patients with knee OA who underwent knee arthroplasty had a heart attack, compared with 286 control patients. Venous thromboembolism was a significant risk during the first month and over time for those having total knee or total hip arthroplasty.

Dr. Frank de Vries of Maastricht University Medical Center in The Netherlands told Reuters Health by email that the excess risk may have appeared to stay high because some of the patients in this study would likely have required further surgeries on the affected joint or elsewhere, though that was not accounted for in the analysis.

Worldwide, 1.8 million surgeries of the type are performed on a yearly basis.

OA mostly happens within the joints of the hand, backbone, hips, knees and nice toes, affecting the entire joint.

The present study included 13,849 patients who underwent total knee replacement surgery and 13,849 matched controls that did not have surgery. PE is a common complication of DVT, occurring when a blood clot breaks off and makes its way to the lungs via the bloodstream. It’s estimated that round 300,000-600,000 individuals within the US develop DVT or PE yearly.

The aim of the recent study by Boston University School of Medicine was to see if joint replacement surgery reduces the risk of heart attack among osteoarthritis patients, as claimed by the UK study.

“The potential underlying mechanisms behind the increased risk of postoperative myocardial infarction include cardiac or hemodynamic stressors associated with surgery (e.g., the effects of anesthesia on the cardiovascular system, blood loss, fluid shifts, arrhythmias, and hypoxia) as well as fat embolization (particularly after total hip arthroplasty)”, the researchers explained. The risk of heart attack did not exist in the long term.

Modifications in treatment for OA sufferers through the surgical interval – reminiscent of discontinuation of low-dose and initiation of anticoagulation prophylaxis towards VTE – can also contribute to elevated coronary heart assault danger, in line with the authors.