Heart at risk after surgery?
July 25, 2012
PEOPLE over the age of 60 who
have knee or hip replacement
surgery have a significantly higher
risk of having a heart attack in the
two weeks after their operation
according to new research.
Published in the Archives of
Internal Medicine the study looked
at the medical records of over
95,000 Danish patients who had
knee or hip replacement surgeries
in the period between 1998 and 2007.
For comparative reasons each
patient was matched with records
from one or more people of the
same age and gender who had not
undergone knee or hip
replacement surgery (around
265,000 comparative patients).
According to the study,
researchers found that in the two
weeks after surgery hip
replacement patients were 26
times more likely to suffer a heart
attack than their non-joint
replacement surgery counterparts,
whilst knee replacement patients
were 31 times more likely to have a
heart attack.
Moreover this heightened risk
was also found to stretch beyond
the two week mark, with figures
showing that in the six weeks post
operation one in 200 hip
replacement patients were
diagnosed with a heart attack,
whilst one in 500 knee replacement
patients had a heart attack.
Those at the highest risk,
according to researchers were aged
80 and over, whilst patients under
60 weren't at any higher risk of
heart problems.
According to lead researcher
pharmacist Dr Arief Lalmohamed,
the study does not show a
definitive cause and effect.
Dr Lalmohamed did however
posit that the increased risk may be
related to a loss of hemodynamic
balance (the disruption of blood
flow and blood oxygen during
surgery) which can place extra
stress on the heart.
The above article was sent to subscribers in Pharmacy Daily's issue from 25 Jul 12To see the full newsletter, see the embedded issue below or CLICK HERE to download Pharmacy Daily from 25 Jul 12
