International Orthopaedics October 2015, Volume 39, Issue 10, pp 2011–2016

Myocardial ischaemia after hip and knee arthroplasty: incidence and risk factors

Bass, A.R., Rodriguez, T., Hyun, G. et al.
Hip Knee

Purpose

Because the occurrence of postoperative myocardial ischaemia (MI) predicts subsequent cardiac morbidity and mortality, we determined the prevalence of and risk factors for MI in hip and knee arthroplasty patients.

Methods

High-sensitivity cardiac troponin T (hs-cTnT) was measured on stored samples from postoperative day two in 394 hip and knee arthroplasty patients ≥ 65 years of age enrolled in the Genetics-InFormatics Trial (GIFT).

Results

Fifty-three (13.5 %) participants had MI, of whom only three were diagnosed clinically during their hospitalisation. The risk of MI increased with age [odds ratio (OR) 3.52 per decade, 95 % confidence interval (CI) 2.00–6.19] and diabetes (OR 2.23, 95 % CI 1.04–4.77). MI was rarer with statins (OR 0.74, 95 % CI 0.40–1.35) and more common with hypertension, coronary artery disease and tobacco use, although these were not statistically significant.

Conclusions

Subclinical MI occurs frequently after arthroplasty. Diabetic and elderly patients are at highest risk.


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