Hip or knee ops benefit half of arthritis patients

Only half of people with arthritis who had a knee or hip replacement report a significant improvement in mobility and pain afterwards, says a Canadian study published in Arthritis & Rheumatism.

Over 200 people with osteoarthritis and inflammatory arthritis were included in the research, and only half reported a meaningful improvement in their overall hip and knee pain and disability one to two years after surgery.

People who had worse knee or hip pain to begin with, but fewer general health problems and no arthritis other than the replaced joint, were more likely to report benefits.

“Many patients with hip and knee arthritis have the condition in more than one of their hip or knee joints,” says the study’s lead author Dr Gillian Hawker. “So it’s not surprising that replacing a single joint doesn’t alleviate all their pain and disability – patients may need subsequent surgeries to maximize the benefits of joint replacement.”

Demand for joint replacement surgery is on the rise, but doctors do not have a set of established criteria to help decide who will benefit from surgery and at what point during the course of the arthritis.

“As physicians, we need to do a better job of targeting treatments to the right patient at the right time by the right provider,” concludes Dr Hawker.