The study, published in February’s JAMA Network Open, identified 3,691 obese patients who underwent hip or knee replacements between 2000 and 2023.
With an average BMI of 37.6, 63.2% of patients had hypertension, 40.1% had diabetes and 74.8% had osteoarthritis.
The study found that the five-year risk of requiring revision was 5.6% among patients who maintained a stable weight or weight gain, versus 4.4% among those with small to moderate weight loss and 3.7% among those with large weight loss.
While GLP-1s help patients lose weight, therefore avoiding revisions, surgeons have concerns that if patients discontinue the anti-obesity medications and see a rebound in weight gain.
In general, hip and knee replacement patients see an average revision rate of 1% and with a cumulative risk rate over 10 years of about 5%. That risk is two to three times higher for obese patients.