Smoking Cessation Prior to Total Joint Arthroplasty Can Lead to Long-term Continuation of Cessation or Abstinence from Smoking

For Immediate Release
November 7, 2020

Dallas – A presentation at the 30th AAHKS Annual Meeting reported on a review of patients who quit smoking prior to total joint arthroplasty (TJA), which is a common practice to lessen complications from surgery, to determine if there was a long-term cessation or abstinence from smoking.

Researchers reviewed the cases of patients who had undergone TJA surgery and quit smoking, as demonstrated by pre-operative laboratory analysis, for the explicit purpose of undergoing surgery between 2009 and 2018. The researchers followed up with the patients between one and ten years after the surgery to learn if they had a permanent tobacco cessation or relapsed. The analysis also explored the use of cessation aids and patient perspective on the importance of quitting.

Lead author, James R. Hall, MD, and co-authors, Rory Metcalf, BS, Emma Leisinger, BS, Nicholas A. Bedard, MD, and Timothy S. Brown, MD found that out of the 250 smokers identified who had TJA surgery, 124 participated in the study. Of this group, 93 patients reported they had quit smoking specifically to facilitate the surgery. 21 of these patients never resumed smoking and 31 patients—one-third of the group—maintained abstinence for more than three months. However, almost half of the patients resumed smoking in the acute postoperative period (44%).

The study concluded that “the increased focus and encouragement of smoking cessation prior to TJA surgery shows that orthopaedics can contribute to this important public health initiative. The national cessation rates of the public only reach the single digits, but TJA patients achieved 56% abstinence for three months and 23% permanently quit smoking.”

Abstract: http://meeting.aahks.org/wp-content/uploads/20_paper-14-hall.pdf

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About the American Association of Hip and Knee Surgeons
Established in 1991, the mission of AAHKS is to advance hip and knee patient care through education and advocacy. AAHKS has a membership of over 4,000 surgeons and other hip and knee health care professionals.