Which patients are most at risk for having to have a hip replacement procedure? A study conducted at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and the Harvard Medical School found that “younger, taller and heavier patients, and those receiving a cemented femoral component, had greater likelihood of undergoing a revision total hip replacement over a 12-year follow-up period.”
Researchers examined data on patients who had a hip replaced between July 1995 and June 1996, each of whom was matched with a control patient. They looked at 719 pairs of patients, as well as their hospital records, in order to observe any potential risk factors. They found that patients who were aged 75 or under at the time of their initial surgery were more likely to need revision surgery than those who were older. Taller patients were also more likely to need revision surgery, as were those with a high body weight.
Investigators published their findings, believed to be the first such U.S. study to look for risk factors for hip replacement revision surgery, in the journal Arthritis Care & Research. They recommended that, “Effects of age and body size on revision risk should be addressed by clinicians with patients considering primary total hip replacement.”
