THURSDAY, March 1 (HealthDay News) -- Obese patients, particularly women, have a higher rate of complications after hip replacement surgery than those who are not obese, according to study findings published in the March 15 issue of Arthritis Care & Research.
Anne Lubbeke, M.D., and colleagues from the University Hospital of Geneva in Switzerland examined the effect of obesity on outcomes in 2,186 patients who had undergone total hip arthroplasty.
The researchers found that obesity increased the incidence of infection (adjusted incidence rate ratio 4.4), which was only observed in women (rate ratio 16.1). Obesity also increased the incidence of dislocation (rate ratio 2.4), which was also higher in women. Five years after the surgery, functional outcomes and patient satisfaction were slightly lower in obese women but not men partly due to higher complication rates.
"Primary total hip arthroplasty is a successful intervention in obese patients, but physician and patient must be aware of increased complications, particularly in women," Lubbeke and colleagues conclude.
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