RESEARCH - Arava (leflunomide) increases the risk of early healing complications in RA patients undergoing elective orthopedic surgery

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Rheumatol Int. 2006 Oct;26(12):1138-42. Epub 2006 May 31.

Leflunomide increases the risk of early healing complications in patients

with rheumatoid arthritis undergoing elective orthopedic surgery.

Department of Orthopedics, Rheumaklinik Bad Bramstedt, Oskar--Str.

26, 24576, Bad Bramstedt, Germany.

The aim of this object is to study whether treatment with biological or

leflunomide increases the risk of wound-healing complications after elective

orthopedic surgery. Between March 2002 and September 2003, 201 patients

participated in this study with the following inclusion criteria: (a)

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) or psoriatic arthritis (psA), ( therapy with:

MTX, leflunomide, etanercept, infliximab, adalimumab, anakinra, ©

undergoing elective orthopedic surgery. The incidence of early postoperative

wound-healing complications was compared among the different groups. In

comparison with patients who received MTX therapy (n = 59), the risk of

postoperative wound-healing complications in patients undergoing leflunomide

therapy (n = 32) was significantly higher: 13.6% in the MTX group, 40.6% in

the leflunomide group (P = 0.01). It is recommended that leflunomide

medication for patients with RA undergoing elective orthopedic surgical

procedure is interrupted preoperatively to reduce the risk of early

wound-healing complications or infections.

PMID: 16736164

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=pubmed & cmd=Retrieve & dopt=Abstra\

ctPlus & list_uids=16736164

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