Ensure that your diet has enough healthy nutrients, including vitamins, minerals, and protein to promote healing after surgery.Cycling, swimming, water exercises, or using an elliptical machine are excellent low-impact activities that minimize the loads placed on the hip and knee joints. Improving the fitness of your heart and lungs and keeping your blood pressure under control can help reduce your risk of medical complications.If you have diabetes, improving your blood sugar control can also help decrease your risk of an infection after surgery.If you smoke, it is recommended that you stop smoking at least 4 weeks prior to surgery to decrease your risk of complications, such as problems healing your incision or an infection.Improving Your Overall HealthĪddressing other risk factors and improving your overall health will make it more likely that you will have a successful joint replacement with fewer complications: Most important, try not to gain weight, as additional weight often worsens arthritis pain and symptoms. Your doctor can give you individualized advice about each of these options, as there may be potential risks depending on your health and situation. If you have had bariatric surgery or are planning to have bariatric surgery, you should inform your surgeon before having hip or knee replacement, and plan to allow 6 to 12 months between your bariatric surgery and your joint replacement surgery. Bariatric surgery is effective for reduction in weight, though it has not been shown to reduce the risk of complications after surgery. Weight loss medications, supervised by a physician or health care provider.(Note: Do not start any type of exercise program without first talking to your doctor.) Lifestyle modifications, including nutritional counseling, weight loss programs, and exercise.Healthy weight loss, while not easy, has many health benefits in addition to making surgery less risky - including possibly preventing or delaying the need for joint replacement. Is there a BMI at which surgery is unsafe? Surgeons and hospital systems that perform more joint replacements on obese patients may have a lower risk of complications related to obesity.

These programs have shown promise in reducing the impact of increasing BMI on the risk of medical and surgical complications. Some surgeons and hospitals have developed programs aimed at reducing the risk of medical or surgical complications in high-risk patients, including those with obesity. These cutoffs often match obesity classifications at BMIs between 35 and 40. Because each of these conditions on its own makes surgery riskier, an obese person who has one or more additional medical conditions has an even greater chance of experiencing complications.īecause of these increased risks, some surgeons, hospitals, and insurance companies have adopted BMI cutoffs above which they recommend against joint replacement surgery to limit the risk of complications in patients with higher BMIs. Therefore, it is essential for your BMI to be at an optimal level before having a hip or knee replacement.Īdditionally, people who are obese are more likely to have medical comorbidities (more than one health condition at a time), including diabetes, cardiovascular disease, metabolic syndrome, malnutrition, and/or obstructive sleep apnea. Treatment of some of these complications can include one or more additional surgeries and are potentially limb or life-threatening issues. Obesity has been shown to increase a person’s risk of having a medical or surgical complication after joint replacement, such as wound healing problems and infection.

Finally, if you are obese, you may need to be prescribed different or additional medications compared to someone who is not obese.Obese patients are also more likely to go back to the hospital for an emergency room visit or to be readmitted after surgery.On average, obese patients stay in the hospital longer after surgery than non-obese patients and are more likely to go to a rehabilitation center instead of home after surgery.If you are obese and are scheduled for an outpatient surgery, you are more likely to need to stay at the hospital overnight for additional care and monitoring.

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