Patients who undergo hip replacements soon after receiving a steroid injection for hip pain are at an increased risk for developing an infection, according to a new study by New York-based Hospital for Special Surgery.
Here are four notes:
1. Investigators examined the Statewide Ambulatory Surgery and Inpatient Databases for Florida and California from 2005 to 2012, which included more than 177,000 patients who had hip replacement surgery for osteoarthritis.
2. Patients were grouped into those who did not receive an injection; those who had hip replacement within six or 12 months of an injection; those who had the surgery within three to six months; and those who had hip replacement within three months of receiving an injection.
3. The infection rate was 2.06 percent in non-injection patients and jumped to 2.81 percent in those who had the surgery within three months after an injection.
4. There was no statistically significant increase in infection risk in patients who had hip replacement between three and 12 months after the injection.