According to a new study led by a team from the John Sealy School of Medicine at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, patients using GLP-1s may face higher risks of complications and readmissions following total shoulder arthroplasty.
The study looked at data from patients who underwent shoulder arthroplasties between January 2010 and December 2023, according to a Dec. 11 Healio report.
Researchers looked at data from 1,259 patients who used GLP-1s at the time of surgery and 1,259 patients who did not.
Patients who used the medications were more likely to be overweight and have preoperative hypertension, heart failure, diabetes, liver disease, tobacco use and chronic kidney disease.
At a 90-day postoperative follow-up, the study found that patients who used GLP-1s had significantly increased rates of deep vein thrombosis (1.6% vs. 0.9%), myocardial infarctions (1.6% vs. 0.9%), pneumonia (3.34% vs. 1.5%), blood transfusions (7.1% vs. 4.3%) and readmissions (8.1% vs. 5.2%) compared with patients who did not use GLP-1s.
The researchers did not see significant differences between the groups in rates of stroke, pulmonary embolism, postoperative anemia or kidney failure at 90 days.
At two-year follow up appointments, there were no significant differences in revision rates between patients who used GLP-1s and patients who did not use GLP-1s, according to the study findings.