Had a Joint Replaced? Your Infection Risk May Rise After Chemotherapy
By Ernie Mundell HealthDay Reporter
MONDAY, May 27, 2024 -- If you're one of the millions of Americans walking around with a new knee or hip, your odds for an infection in that joint rise if you ever have to undergo cancer chemotherapy, researchers report.
“Given the number of people of receiving total joint replacements each year, as well as the cost both physically, emotionally and financially for those who develop an infection and may need subsequent treatment, we need to understand what factors may increase the risk for postoperative infections,” said study author Dr. Janet Conway.
She's an orthopedic surgeon at the Rubin Institute for Advanced Orthopedics, and is also head of Bone and Joint Infection at Sinai Hospital in Baltimore.
Her team tracked outcomes for over 17,000 patients who had undergone total knee replacement, total hip replacement or total shoulder replacement. They looked at people who'd also undergone chemotherapy within a year of their joint replacement surgery.
Undergoing chemo appeared tied to a higher odds for an infection in the joint that had been replaced, the team found, compared to folks with new joints who had not undergone chemo.
“We became curious about the potential effects of postoperative chemotherapy and the risk of joint infection as we saw cases in our own joint replacement patients,” Conway explained in a Sinai Hospital news release.
“To our knowledge, this is the first study to comprehensively investigate the potential risk of postoperative joint infection for patients who later receive chemotherapy," she added. Conway believes more study is needed among people undergoing chemotherapy, to help find way to protect folks with joint replacements from unnecessary infections.
Th findings were published in the May issue of Archives of Orthopaedic and Trauma Surgery.
Sources
- Lifebridge Health, news release, May 23, 2024
Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.
© 2024 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
Posted May 2024
Read this next
Tattoo Inks Can Be Contaminated With Bacteria: Study
TUESDAY, July 2, 2024 — Getting inked could make you sick. In a first-of-its-kind study, researchers detected bacteria in commercial tattoo and permanent makeup inks...
Exercise May Prevent the Nerve Damage That Comes With Chemotherapy
TUESDAY, July 2, 2024 -- Simple exercises performed during rounds of chemotherapy can help people avoid nerve damage normally associated with the cancer-killing drugs, a new study...
Healthy Weight Loss Could Lower Your Odds for Cancer
TUESDAY, June 25, 2024 -- Losing weight can protect you against cancers related to obesity, a new study finds. Obesity has been linked to higher risk of at least 13 types of...
More news resources
- FDA Medwatch Drug Alerts
- Daily MedNews
- News for Health Professionals
- New Drug Approvals
- New Drug Applications
- Drug Shortages
- Clinical Trial Results
- Generic Drug Approvals
Subscribe to our newsletter
Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.
