Arthritis care & research 2022 Jun 19
2022 American College of Rheumatology/American Association of Hip and Knee Surgeons Guideline for the Perioperative Management of Antirheumatic Medication in Patients With Rheumatic Diseases Undergoing Elective Total Hip or Total Knee Arthroplasty.
Abstract
Objective
To develop updated guidelines for the perioperative management of disease-modifying medications for patients with rheumatic diseases, specifically those with inflammatory arthritis (IA) and those with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), undergoing elective total hip arthroplasty (THA) or elective total knee arthroplasty (TKA).
Methods
We convened a panel of rheumatologists, orthopedic surgeons, and infectious disease specialists, updated the systematic literature review, and included currently available medications for the clinically relevant population, intervention, comparator, and outcomes (PICO) questions. We used the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) methodology to rate the quality of evidence and the strength of recommendations using a group consensus process.
Results
This guideline updates the 2017 recommendations for perioperative use of disease-modifying antirheumatic therapy, including traditional disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs, biologic agents, targeted synthetic small-molecule drugs, and glucocorticoids used for adults with rheumatic diseases, specifically for the treatment of patients with IA, including rheumatoid arthritis and spondyloarthritis, those with juvenile idiopathic arthritis, or those with SLE who are undergoing elective THA or TKA. It updates recommendations regarding when to continue, when to withhold, and when to restart these medications and the optimal perioperative dosing of glucocorticoids.
Conclusion
This updated guideline includes recently introduced immunosuppressive medications to help decision-making by clinicians and patients regarding perioperative disease-modifying medication management for patients with IA and SLE at the time of elective THA or TKA.
Related Questions
What are your recommendations for perioperative management of DMARDs and biologics in patients undergoing bariatric surgery?
One of the goals of the ACR's perioperative guidelines (Goodman et al., PMID 35718887) was to avoid unnecessarily long interruptions in therapy in the perioperative setting, which increases the risk of disease flares, can lead to increased glucocorticoid use in the perioperative setting (which is as...
What is your approach when surgeons want to stop hydroxychloroquine prior to surgery?
I would absolutely say "do NOT stop HCQ." This is most likely a case of the surgical team mistaking HCQ for an immunosuppressant drug rather than an immunomodulatory drug. I would write a tactful "Rheumatologic Perioperative Recommendations" note where I would specifically state not to stop it and t...
Do you use the peri-operative management of biologics and DMARDs guidelines, which were mainly based on total hip and knee replacement surgeries, for all peri-operative surgical management?
The American College of Rheumatology Perioperative Guidelines focused on patients undergoing hip or knee arthroplasty. These guidelines can be a helpful starting place when thinking about medication management in patients undergoing other surgeries, but my recommendations for perioperative managemen...