Smokers more likely to have reoperation for infection after joint replacement surgery

Smoking is associated with an increased risk of infectious complications requiring more surgery after people have hip or knee replacements, says research in The Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery.

A total of 15,264 people who had 17,394 total joint replacements were assessed: 9% were smokers; 34% had smoked in the past; and 57% were nonsmokers.

The risk of reoperation for infectious complications within 90 days or surgery was low: 0.71%. Despite the low overall risk, current smokers were 80% higher than non-smokers to need further surgery after infectious complications. Former smokers were not at increased risk.

“Our results found that current smokers had a significantly higher rate of septic reoperation compared with nonsmokers,” comments Dr Matthew Austin who led the work. “Furthermore, each additional pack-year significantly contributed to total reoperations.”

Click here to read the original research.

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