Lifestyle drugs program might cut back an infection, ache after TJA

Key takeaways:

• Patients in a way of life drugs program skilled diminished an infection threat and fewer ache 90 days after TJA.
• However, sufferers on GLP-1s for weight reduction didn’t expertise the identical well being advantages.

DALLAS — Patients who participated in an intensive way of life drugs program earlier than whole hip and knee arthroplasty had diminished an infection threat and fewer ache 90 days after surgical procedure in contrast with those that didn’t take part in this system.

“This study provides the proof on concept that lifestyle medicine interventions not only helps reduce your metabolic burden, but it also translated into health mitigation risks that are sustainable that we don’t see with other methods,” Heidi Prather, DO, medical director of the Lifestyle Medicine Program at Hospital for Special Surgery and professor of bodily drugs and rehabilitation at Weill Cornell Medicine, advised Healio about outcomes introduced on the American College of Lifestyle Medicine annual convention. “Lifestyle medicine can be a great tool to use in that preoperative space.”

Change in way of life

Prather and colleagues retrospectively reviewed prospectively collected information from sufferers present process whole hip or knee arthroplasty between March 2022 and September 2024. Patients had been triaged into two teams “based on their willingness and confidence in [behavioral] change,” in line with Prather.

Patients concerned about behavioral change had been enrolled in an intensive, interprofessional, standardized way of life drugs program the place they recognized objectives to realize previous to surgical procedure (eg, weight reduction, smoking cessation) and took part in one-on-one and group applications.

“The team members that patients chose to work with included physical therapists, exercise kinesiologists, dieticians, health coaches, counselors and smoking cessation, and we offer culinary medicine, as well,” Prather stated. “They picked their team members and attended group and one-on-one sessions based on their goals and created their own pathway. No one person’s path looks the same.”

Patients who weren’t concerned about behavioral change had been enrolled within the selective monitor the place they met with a doctor and acquired data on way of life components and the way it pertains to their musculoskeletal situation and well being.

Prather and colleagues discovered that when put next at 90 days postoperatively, sufferers who enacted way of life change had a decrease charge of an infection and fewer persistent ache in contrast with these within the selective group. Based on these outcomes, Prather stated implementation of a way of life drugs program might cut back prices and enhance affected person outcomes after TJA.

“[These results] suggest that it’s not just the surgery we’re doing, but the environment we’re putting the prosthesis in may need to be as ideal as possible and patients’ outcomes might be better,” Prather stated. “Study the host and not just the procedure.”

GLP-1 subanalysis

In a subgroup evaluation that in contrast sufferers who selected to take GLP-1s for weight discount and people who didn’t, Prather and colleagues discovered using GLP-1s was related to weight reduction however not the opposite well being threat advantages.

“[Patients on GLP-1s] did not experience reduced infection and they did not experience less persistent pain. In fact, they refilled their opioids more in the first 90 days after surgery,” Prather stated.

According to Prather, these outcomes counsel that surgeons ought to take whole metabolic burden under consideration along with weight reduction. She additionally stated sufferers taking GLP-1s for weight reduction might have to be supported in another way to cut back the chance for muscle losing and poor bone well being.

“We need to be on top of this. We’re now looking into what specific programming and support patients need if they are on a GLP-1. Should we be doing body composition on every single one of them and making sure that that stays stable?” Prather stated.

For extra data:

Heidi Prather, DO, needs to be contacted by means of [email protected].

Published by:

Sources/Disclosures

Source:

Prather H, et al. Outcomes comparisons of way of life drugs applications applied to cut back surgical dangers. Presented at: Lifestyle Medicine Conference; Nov. 16-19, 2025; Dallas.

Disclosures:
Prather experiences no related monetary disclosures.

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