Comprehensive risk analysis of postoperative complications in patients with rheumatoid arthritis for the 2020 update of the Japan College of Rheumatology clinical practice guidelines for the management of rheumatoid arthritis

Objectives To examine the risk factors of surgical site infection (SSI), delayed wound healing, and death after orthopedic surgery in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Methods We identified articles indexed in the Cochrane Library, PubMed, and Japan Centra Revuo Medicina Web published from 2013 to 2019 and other articles. Articles fulfilling the predefined inclusion criteria were reviewed systematically and their quality was appraised according to the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation system with some modifications. Results After inclusion and exclusion by full-text review, 29 articles were analyzed. Use of biological disease modifying antirheumatic drugs was a risk factor of SSI (risk ratio 1.66, 95% confidence interval 1.25-2.19), but not of delayed wound healing. RA itself was a risk factor of SSI, and oral glucocorticoid use was a risk factor of SSI in three of the four studies analyzed and of postoperative death. Age, male sex, comorbidities such as diabetes mellitus and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, surgical factors such as foot/ankle and spine surgery and longer operative time were risk factors of those postoperative complications. Conclusion Patients with those factors should be dealt with appropriate cautions to strike a risk-benefit balance of orthopedic surgeries.