News and information about the National Data Bank for Rheumatic Diseases (NDB) and arthritis and rheumatology research. Written for NDB participants and anyone with a rheumatic disease.
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Thursday, November 04, 2004
ACR Posters: Joint Infection and Anti-TNF Therapy
Continuing our reporting on the American College of Rheumatology meeting, here is what we found on joint infections and anti-TNF drugs.
Joint infection is a concern for RA patients who undergo total joint replacement surgery (TJR). Some recent research has shown that the risk of joint infection is much higher after TJR if the patient is taking anti-TNF therapy, such as Humira, Enbrel or Remicade.
We decided to look at the risk of joint infection in RA patients in the NDB. Joint infections are very rare. If we look at “patient years,” or the number of years a person has RA, we found only 1.2 cases per 1,000 patient years among patients who’ve never had TJR. That means that on average, you would have to live 833 years with RA to get a joint infection.
Patients who recently had TJR surgery have a greater risk, about 14 cases per 1,000 patient years. This makes sense, because any time the skin is broken, for surgery or just a scrape, the risk of infection goes up. Our skin is there to protect us, after all.
How did anti-TNF therapy affect the results? We found that the risk of infection doubled, but that if you haven’t had recent TJR surgery your risk is still extremely small. You’d have to live about 500 years to have a joint infection. Thanks to your help and this research, doctors have better knowledge about infection risks with anti-TNF drugs, rather than having to guess about the risk. Other RA drugs did not increase the risk.
To see the poster, click the image here for a PowerPoint file.
Continuing our reporting on the American College of Rheumatology meeting, here is what we found on joint infections and anti-TNF drugs.
Joint infection is a concern for RA patients who undergo total joint replacement surgery (TJR). Some recent research has shown that the risk of joint infection is much higher after TJR if the patient is taking anti-TNF therapy, such as Humira, Enbrel or Remicade.
We decided to look at the risk of joint infection in RA patients in the NDB. Joint infections are very rare. If we look at “patient years,” or the number of years a person has RA, we found only 1.2 cases per 1,000 patient years among patients who’ve never had TJR. That means that on average, you would have to live 833 years with RA to get a joint infection.
Patients who recently had TJR surgery have a greater risk, about 14 cases per 1,000 patient years. This makes sense, because any time the skin is broken, for surgery or just a scrape, the risk of infection goes up. Our skin is there to protect us, after all.
How did anti-TNF therapy affect the results? We found that the risk of infection doubled, but that if you haven’t had recent TJR surgery your risk is still extremely small. You’d have to live about 500 years to have a joint infection. Thanks to your help and this research, doctors have better knowledge about infection risks with anti-TNF drugs, rather than having to guess about the risk. Other RA drugs did not increase the risk.
To see the poster, click the image here for a PowerPoint file.
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