Risk for Revision Surgery After Shoulder Replacement Varies

THURSDAY, Feb. 21, 2019 (HealthDay News) — The lifetime risk for revision surgery after elective shoulder replacement surgery varies from 2.7 to 23.6 percent, according to a study published online Feb. 20 in The BMJ.

Richard S. Craig, M.B.B.S., from the University of Oxford Botnar Research Centre in the United Kingdom, and colleagues examined the risk for serious adverse events after elective shoulder replacement surgery for arthritis. Data were included for 58,054 elective shoulder replacements in 51,895 adults aged ≥ 50 years.

The researchers observed a 5.6-fold increase in the number of shoulder replacements performed each year between 1998 and 2017. There was variation in the lifetime risks for revision surgery, from 2.7 percent in women aged 85 years and older to 23.6 percent in men aged 55 to 59 years. In the first five years after surgery, the risks for revision were highest. At 30 days and 90 days postsurgery, the risk for any serious adverse event was 3.5 and 4.6 percent, respectively. There was an association for serious adverse events with increasing age, comorbidity, and male sex. Overall, 21.2 percent of men aged 85 years and older experienced at least one serious adverse event within 90 days.

“If we are to continue to safely treat the growing population of older patients with multimorbidity, research is needed to aid selection, optimization, and management of patients throughout their entire health care pathway to minimize the risk of serious adverse events,” the authors write.

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