Another Hospital for Special Surgery study included 56 SLE patients undergoing THR and 45 with TKR, as well as 108 age-matched controls undergoing THR and 89 with TKR. The SLE patients had significantly worse baseline Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) pain and function scores than did the osteoarthritis patients. At 2 years of follow-up, however, all four groups ended up with very good pain and function outcomes, with WOMAC scores in the 80-92 range.
Yet despite these excellent outcomes, the SLE patients still felt more limited by their chronic disease. This was reflected in their lower health-related quality of life on the SF-36 physical component summary score at 2 years of follow-up: 39 in the SLE THR patients, compared with 50.1 in the osteoarthritis THR group, and 38 in the SLE TKR patients, compared with 48.4 in the osteoarthritis controls.
This and other studies paint a picture of contemporary SLE patients undergoing TKR as more closely resembling osteoarthritis patients with TKR than SLE patients undergoing THR. The average age of the SLE TKR patients, at 62.4 years, was 8 years older than the SLE THR group. The SLE TKR group’s mean body mass index of 31.5 kg/m2 was 5 kg/m2 greater than in the SLE THR group. And none of the SLE TKR patients had avascular necrosis, compared with one-third of those undergoing THR.
Dr. Goodman reported having no relevant financial relationships.