A recent study published in the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery found obese patients who underwent knee or hip total joint replacement reported similar postoperative pain relief as normal weight patients.
Researchers at the Geisinger Health System in Danville, Pa., and University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester sampled 2,040 patients who underwent total hip replacement and 2,964 who underwent total knee replacement.
Results showed severely and morbidly obese patients had less postoperative functional gain than other BMI groups following a total hip replacement. However, obese patients also reported greater postoperative pain relief six months after surgery.
The study concluded the average postoperative pain scores did not differ significantly among BMI groups during total hip replacement surgery. Similar results were also shown for patients who underwent total knee replacement surgery.