Smoking Increases Wound Complications after Your Total Joint Replacement

ROSEMONT, Ill., March 30, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- It's a well-known fact that smoking is bad for overall health.  Smoking can increase your chances of lung cancer, heart attack and stroke. However, recent research indicates that your lungs and heart aren't the only things that could be at risk when you light up. In a study presented at the Annual Meeting of the Orthopaedic Research Society (ORS), Kyle Duchman and his team took a closer look at how smoking can lead to complications following total joint arthroplasty.

For many people, total joint arthroplasty, or TJA, offers the hope of an improved quality of life.  It has become a fairly routine procedure and gives patients increased mobility.  "TJA has a proven track record, with consistently excellent results reported throughout the orthopaedic literature," explained Duchman. "However, patient factors have previously been identified that consistently produce results that are less than excellent."  Factors such as a patient's age, gender and weight are often considered, however, smoking has now been identified as a potential factor that may affect results of surgical outcomes.  What makes this risk factor different than others?  "Unlike age or gender, smoking status is modifiable," Duchman offers.

Duchman's team, including Andrew Pugely, MD, Christopher Martin, MD, Yubo Gao, PhD, Melissa Willenborg, MD and John Callaghan, MD, has determined that patients who smoke are much more likely to experience wound complications after surgical procedure, some of which require additional surgeries.  If this research indicates that smoking increases the risk of complications, should surgeons advise patients to quit smoking before undergoing this type of procedure?  The team of researchers is trying to answer this question.  "Our findings are not only useful for the orthopaedic surgeon who counsels patients prior to surgery on patient-specific risks," Duchman explains "It also establishes a baseline for future smoking cessation programs to compare as we aim to change this modifiable risk factor in order to improve results and decrease complications following total joint arthroplasty."

Founded in 1954, the Orthopaedic Research Society strives to be the world's leading forum for the dissemination of new musculoskeletal research findings.  The musculoskeletal system provides form, support, stability, and movement to the body.

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SOURCE Orthopaedic Research Society