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Should Hip and Knee Arthroplasty Be Restricted in the Obese?

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Controversies in Obesity

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Abstract

The obesity epidemic is likely to increase the demand for hip and knee replacement surgery. In the moderately obese, there is little evidence of significantly increased complications, particularly with regard to hip replacements. In fact, other comorbidities correlate better with outcome. Lower outcome scores are often seen in the obese; however, the overall improvement can be greater than their normal-weight counterparts. There may be an increased risk of infection in morbidly obese patients undergoing knee replacement and patients should be counselled appropriately. Hip and knee prostheses do not appear to fail sooner in obese subjects. Enhanced recovery programs have helped reduce complications and accelerate rehabilitation after surgery. Denying surgery to individuals in pain, where all other treatment has failed, is not justified, whatever their weight.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Hip and Knee Unit, West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust, Vicarage Road, Watford, Hertfordshire, WD18 0HB, UK

    Tim S. Waters MBBS, MRCS, FRCS (Orth)

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  1. Tim S. Waters MBBS, MRCS, FRCS (Orth)
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Correspondence to Tim S. Waters MBBS, MRCS, FRCS (Orth) .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Watton Place Clinic, Watton-at-Stone, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom

    David W. Haslam

  2. Department of Medicine, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

    Arya M. Sharma

  3. Department of Pathology, Diabetes Complications Research Centre, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland

    Carel W. le Roux

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Waters, T.S. (2014). Should Hip and Knee Arthroplasty Be Restricted in the Obese?. In: Haslam, D., Sharma, A., le Roux, C. (eds) Controversies in Obesity. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-2834-2_24

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-2834-2_24

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  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4471-2834-2

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