Hip and Knee Replacement Patients Run Higher Heart Attack Risk

By MC Kelby HERWriter

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patients with hip or knee replacements have higher risk for heart disease

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According to the U.S. National Library of Medicine, ʺosteoarthritis (OA) is the most common joint disorder, which is due to aging and wear and tear on a joint. Also, the symptoms of OA usually appear in middle age. Almost everyone has some symptoms by age 70. However, these symptoms may be minor.ʺ

To improve their quality of life those with osteoarthritis may consider having a knee or hip replacement surgery. As a matter of fact, more than two million osteoarthritis suffers have a total hip and knee replacement surgery annually.

However, a new study found those who have hip or knee replacement surgery are at higher risk of suffering a heart attack.

According to the Annals of Internal Medicine report ʺtotal hip-replacement patients 60 and older were 25 times more likely to have a heart attack within the first two weeks after surgery. Those with total knee replacements had a slightly greater risk. But after six weeks, the risk returned to baseline.ʺ

Lead study author Arief Lalmohamed, who is a researcher in the department of pharmaceutical sciences at Utrecht University in the Netherlands, said, ʺWe learned from this study that we need to focus more on preventing cardiac outcomes following this major surgery.ʺ

Arthritis Today Magazine revealed that the study was compiled information from the more than 95,000 Danish patients who underwent total hip replacement or total knee replacement surgeries between 1998 and 2007.

The magazine stated, ʺThe average age of the hip patients was 72, while the average age of the knee patients was 67. The researchers found that during the two weeks immediately following each surgery, heart attack risk rose sharply – 25-fold for hip patients and 31-fold for knee patients, compared with similar people in the Danish registries who did not have these surgeries.ʺ

Also Arthritis Today claimed, ʺAfter two weeks, heart attack risk dropped dramatically – although the overall risk of heart attack after hip replacement surgery remained elevated for six weeks. Researchers also found that the association between hip and knee replacement surgeries and heart attack was strongest in those 80 years or older. They found no significantly increased risk in patients younger than 60.ʺ

According to ABC News, ʺDoctors say your arteries are used to flowing at a certain rate so when you're having surgery there's blood loss. And all of a sudden your heart rate speeds up."

Cardiologist Dr. Daniel Eisenberg stated in the interview with ABC News, "So the stress on your body can make your heart work harder and if their blockage is there in the heart so blood can't get to the arteries, that's when people get heart attacks."

Dr. Eisenberg also said ʺthere's an increased heart attack risk with any surgery so it's important to have this discussion with your doctor before booking any elective procedure.ʺ

References:

Hip/knee replacement surgery increases heart-attack risk? | abc7.com. ABC Owned Television Stations. Retrieved August 5, 2012, from
http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/health/your_health&id=8746448

Osteoarthritis - PubMed Health. National Center for Biotechnology Information. Retrieved August 5, 2012, from
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001460/

Reviewed August 6, 2012
by Michele Blacksberg RN
Edited by Jody Smith

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