Hip, knee replacement 'increases risk of joint infections in rheumatoid arthritis patients'
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients who undergo hip or knee replacement surgery have an increased risk of developing prosthetic joint infection, according to a new study published in the journal Arthritis Care and Research.
Scientists from the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine in the US studied data of all patients who underwent hip or knee replacement at the clinic between January 1996 and June 2004.
Risk factors associated with prosthetic joint infection were examined, and a group of osteoarthritis patients made up the control group to assess whether RA was a risk factor.
Results showed that 3.7 per cent of 657 joint arthroplasties had been complicated by infections during a mean follow-up period of 4.3 years.
When RA patients were compared with osteoarthritis patients, it was found that RA sufferers had an increased risk of prosthetic joint infections.
"Patients with RA who undergo total hip or knee replacement are at increased risk of prosthetic joint infection, which is further increased in the setting of revision arthroplasty and a previous prosthetic joint infection," the researchers concluded.
"These findings highlight the importance of perioperative prophylactic measures and vigilance during the postoperative period."
A spokesman for the Arthritis Research Campaign said the findings were worrying and reiterated the need for particular attention to be paid to the care of RA patients having a joint replacement before and after surgery. 
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