A new study has shown that people who have surgery for total hip or knee replacement may face a greater risk for a heart attack on a short term, even during the first month following the procedure. The research paper was published in the journal Arthritis & Rheumatology on August 31.
The study suggests that after total knee replacement surgery chances of a heart attack were more than eight times greater in the first 30 days compared to people who didn't undergo the procedure. Following total hip replacement surgery, the study has found that the risk of a heart attack was four times greater.
However, the researchers noted that their findings shouldn't discourage patients suffering from osteoarthritis from having these types of surgeries. According to scientists, neither knee nor hip replacement increases the overall risk of heart attack over the entire follow-up period in their study. The only finding was that the risk was substantially increased shortly after surgery but this "should not keep a patient from having either surgery."
According to the study's findings, the odds of a heart attack dissipated over time in these patients. But the odds of blood clots in lungs and veins increased in the month following knee or hip replacement and lasted for years after the surgery was performed, the researchers said.
Lead researcher Yuqing Zhang, a professor of medicine and epidemiology at Boston University School of Medicine, said that contrary to other recently published findings, the study performed by his research team suggests that total joint replacement surgery procedures cannot provide protection from the risk of heart attack. He added that these findings may suggest that post-operatory risks of a heart attack immediately after surgery may have been underestimated.
Another professor of cardiology at the University of California, Los Angeles, Dr. Gregg Fonarow, declared that during and early after a variety of surgical procedure it is well documented that risk of a heart attack is elevated.
An earlier study of patients with osteoarthritis suggested a lower risk for heart attacks among those having surgery. However, in that research the heart attacks in the month after surgery were excluded from that study. According to Fonarow, this missing might have compromise the results of the study and has led to a wrong conclusion.
The expert explained that the reasons for increased risk of heart attack after surgery are multiple and diverse. Attempts to lower these risks using medication including heart medications, alpha blockers, beta blockers and aspirin have generally not been successful in lowering the risk, Fonarow said.
