Swedish study found that people with new knees had slight increase in spinal fractures, too
MONDAY, April 18, 2016 (HealthDay News) — New research suggests an increasing risk for hip and vertebral fracture in the 10 years after knee replacement. The findings were scheduled for presentation at the annual meeting of the International Osteoporosis Foundation, held from April 14 to 17 in Malaga, Spain.
The new study was led by Cecilie Hongslo Vala, Ph.D., of the Sahlgrenska Academy in Gothenburg, Sweden, and involved the medical records of Swedes born between 1902 and 1952. According to medical records dating from 1987 to 2002, 3,221 had a total knee replacement and a subsequent hip fracture.
Those who had total knee replacement due to osteoarthritis had a low risk of hip and spinal fractures in the decade before their knee replacement, the researchers said. However, after the knee replacement, their risk of hip fracture rose by 4 percent and their risk of spinal fracture rose 19 percent, compared to those who did not have a knee replacement.
“The increasing risk for hip and vertebral fracture in the 10 years after knee replacement may be explained by pain, increase of physical activity due to rehabilitation, and other biomechanical factors,” Vala said in a foundation news release.
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