Advanced Orthopedics for Joint Replacement

Total hip and total knee replacement surgeries are highly successful and very common procedures for people experiencing pain associated with degenerative joints. With a new hip or knee, and postoperative care prescribed by their doctors, most patients are able to regain a more active lifestyle with considerably less pain.

A previous study suggests that increased mortality exists for as long as 60- 90 days after operation. However, Dr. Stein Atle Lie, a professor in the Department of Surgical Sciences at the University of Bergen, Norway, believes that the risk is tied to a much shorter duration. With this in mind Dr. Lie led the study with colleagues from the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, and the Norwegian Arthroplasty Register at the Haukeland University Hospital in Bergen, Norway.

Data were collected from 81,856 patients with a total knee replacement and 106,254 patients with a total hip replacement from the Australian Orthopaedic Joint Replacement Registry and the Norwegian Arthroplasty Register. Patients included in the study were those age between 50 and 80 years with osteoarthritis.

According to the study "the risk of early postoperative mortality -- or death following surgery -- was slightly increased for the first 26 days after the elective surgery. The risk of mortality was estimated to be 0.1 percent. The size of the study and the precise statistical tools used show the increase in early postoperative mortality was highest immediately after the operation. Then, 26 days after the surgery, the increased risk of death was negligible."

They also found out that the most significant risk factors for increased early postoperative mortality were Males older than 70 years old. People considering joint replacement should therefore talk to their orthopedic surgeon about any other risk in relation to their age, and follow closely recovery guidelines.

"This very low postoperative mortality after hip and knee replacements should be reassuring for patients considering these surgeries," explains study co-author Lars B. Engesaeter, MD, PhD and Head of Norwegian Arthroplasty Register, Haukeland University Hospital in Bergen, Norway.

"We conducted this study to help people contemplating hip or knee replacement," continues Dr. Lie. "As with all surgeries, there is some increased risk of postoperative mortality. However, we were pleased to find the mortality rate is so minimal -- less than one percent -- following hip and knee replacements."

News Article c/o Science Daily