Lung disease can also put older hip and knee surgery patients atrisk, study finds. THURSDAY, June 7 (HealthDay News) -- About 3 percent of patientswho have total hip and knee replacements require critical careservices before they leave the hospital, a large new studyindicates. The findings highlight the risks of these elective surgeries inolder patients with other health problems and show that theprocedures are placing an increasing burden on the health caresystem's critical care services, according to the study authors. In the study, published online and in the July print issue of thejournal Anesthesiology , researchers analyzed data from nearly 530,000 patients who hadtotal knee or hip replacement surgery at 400 U.S. hospitals between2006 and 2010. Compared to patients who didn't require follow-up critical careservices, the 3 percent of patients who did require such care had ahigher death rate (2.5 percent versus 0.1 percent), longerhospitals stays, higher costs and were less likely to go home afterbeing discharged (40 percent versus 63 percent), the investigatorsfound. In addition, the researchers noted that older patients (average age69) were more likely to require critical care services than youngerpatients (average age 66). Patients who needed critical careservices were also more likely to have other health problems suchas obesity, diabetes and chronic obstructive pulmonary [lung]disease. Heart and lung problems were the most common complications that ledto the use of critical care services following total knee or hipreplacement. The need for critical care services was also higheramong patients who had general anesthesia rather than spinalanesthesia. The findings show that the percentage of total knee and hip jointreplacement patients who require critical care services is largeenough that hospitals and critical care doctors need to prepare forthe growing number of these patients who will require such care,said lead author Dr. Stavros Memtsoudis, director of critical careservices at the Hospital for Special Surgery, in New York City. "Orthopedic patients are not the prime type of patient that peopleexpect in an [intensive care unit]. It is elective surgery afterall," Memtsoudis said in a hospital news release. "Risk factors forneeding critical care services are advanced age and existingcoronary artery disease, diabetes, obesity and a number of other[preexisting conditions]. Unfortunately, this is the type ofpopulation that usually requires hip and knee replacements." Currently, more than one million hip and knee replacements areperformed each year in the United States, the release noted. Thatnumber is expected to be more than 4 million by 2030. More information The U.S. National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal andSkin Diseases has more about joint replacement surgery . SOURCE: Hospital for Special Surgery, news release, June 5, 2012 Copyright © 2012 HealthDay . All rights reserved. I am an expert from puffy-stickers.com, while we provides the quality product, such as Googly Eyes Stickers Manufacturer , Fuzzy Stickers, Dress Up Doll Stickers,and more.
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