Perioperative use of anti-rheumatic agents does not increase early postoperative infection risks: a Veteran Affairs’ administrative database study

Perioperative management of patients with inflammatory rheumatic diseases : Updated recommendations of the German Society for Rheumatology

BACKGROUND

Prior to surgical interventions physicians and patients with inflammatory rheumatic diseases remain concerned about interrupting or continuing anti-inflammatory medication. For this reason, the German Society for Rheumatology has updated its recommendations from 2014.

METHODS

After a systematic literature search including publications up to 31 August 2021, the recommendations on the use of of glucocorticoids, conventional synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (csDMARDs) and biologics (bDMARDs) were revised and recommendations on newer drugs and targeted synthetic (ts)DMARDs were added.

RESULTS

The glucocorticoid dose should be reduced to as low as possible 2-3 months before elective surgery (in any case <10 mg/day) but should be kept stable 1-2 weeks before and on the day of surgery. In many cases csDMARDs can be continued, exceptions being a reduction of high methotrexate doses to ≤15 mg/week and wash-out of leflunomide if there is a high risk of infection. Azathioprine, mycophenolate and ciclosporin should be paused 1-2 days prior to surgery. Under bDMARDs surgery can be scheduled for the end of each treatment interval. For major interventions Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitors should be paused for 3-4 days. Apremilast can be continued. If interruption is necessary, treatment should be restarted as soon as possible for all substances, depending on wound healing.

CONCLUSION

Whether bDMARDs increase the perioperative risk of infection and the benefits and risks of discontinuation remain unclear based on the currently available evidence. To minimize the risk of a disease relapse under longer treatment pauses, in the updated recommendations the perioperative interruption of bDMARDs was reduced from at least two half-lives to one treatment interval.

[Perioperative management of treatment of patients with inflammatory rheumatic diseases : Updated recommendations of the German Society of Rheumatology]

BACKGROUND

Prior to surgical interventions physicians and patients with inflammatory rheumatic diseases remain concerned about interrupting or continuing anti-inflammatory medication. For this reason, the German Society for Rheumatology has updated its recommendations from 2014.

METHODS

After a systematic literature search including publications up to 31 August 2021, the recommendations on the use of of glucocorticoids, conventional synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (csDMARDs) and biologics (bDMARDs) were revised and recommendations on newer drugs and targeted synthetic (ts)DMARDs were added.

RESULTS

The glucocorticoid dose should be reduced to as low as possible 2-3 months before elective surgery (in any case <10 mg/day) but should be kept stable 1-2 weeks before and on the day of surgery. In many cases csDMARDs can be continued, exceptions being a reduction of high methotrexate doses to ≤15 mg/week and wash-out of leflunomide if there is a high risk of infection. Azathioprine, mycophenolate and ciclosporin should be paused 1-2 days prior to surgery. Under bDMARDs surgery can be scheduled for the end of each treatment interval. For major interventions Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitors should be paused for 3-4 days. Apremilast can be continued. If interruption is necessary, treatment should be restarted as soon as possible for all substances, depending on wound healing.

CONCLUSION

Whether bDMARDs increase the perioperative risk of infection and the benefits and risks of discontinuation remain unclear based on the currently available evidence. To minimize the risk of a disease relapse under longer treatment pauses, in the updated recommendations the perioperative interruption of bDMARDs was reduced from at least two half-lives to one treatment interval.

Pre-operative withholding of infliximab and the risk of infections after major surgery in patients with rheumatoid arthritis

OBJECTIVES

Withholding TNF inhibitors (TNFI) before surgery has been recommended due to concern for post-operative infection. We examined the risks of post-operative infections and mortality in patients with RA in relation to the pre-operative timing of infliximab infusion.

METHODS

In this population-based retrospective cohort study, we used US Medicare claims data from 2007 to 2015 to identify patients with RA who underwent coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), aortic or vascular surgery, or bowel resection, and who were treated with infliximab in the 90 days prior to surgery. We examined associations between the timing of infusion and infections and mortality in the 30 days after surgery. We adjusted for the predicted probability of post-operative infection or death, demographic characteristics, use of MTX, post-operative blood transfusion and hospital volume.

RESULTS

We studied 712 patients with CABG, 244 patients with vascular surgery and 862 patients with bowel resections. Post-operative pneumonia occurred in 7.4-11.9%, urinary tract infection in 9.0-15.2%, surgical site infection in 3.2-18.9%, sepsis in 4.2-9.6% and death in 3.5-7.0% among surgery cohorts. There was no association between the time from last infliximab dose to surgery and the risk of post-operative infection or mortality in any surgical cohort. No subgroups were identified that had an increased risk of infection with more proximate use of infliximab.

CONCLUSION

Among elderly patients with RA, risks of infection and mortality after major surgery were not related to the pre-operative timing of infliximab infusion.

The Management of Perioperative Immunosuppressant Medications for Rheumatoid Arthritis During Elective Hand Surgery

PURPOSE

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a destructive inflammatory disease that commonly involves joints of the hand and wrist. Different recommendations exist for continuing or discontinuing immunosuppressant medications during the perioperative time period. The purpose of our study was to determine whether continuing or discontinuing medications (steroids, nonbiological, and/or biological disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs [DMARDs]) were associated with an increased or decreased risk of postoperative complications.

METHODS

We performed a single-center, retrospective review of a cohort of RA patients who had elective hand surgery by a single surgeon. Patients were included if they had a documented diagnosis of seropositive RA by a rheumatologist and had elective hand surgery and/or a disease-related surgical procedure involving the upper extremity between January 2008 and August 2018. We stratified patients into different groups for comparison by classes of immunosuppressant medications for managing RA. These classes included corticosteroids, nonbiological DMARDs, biological DMARDs, and/or no medications. Immunosuppressant medications were then compared with no medications for the incidence of postoperative overall complications.

RESULTS

Eighty-eight patients had elective hand and/or upper extremity surgeries for RA. Mean patient age at the time of surgery (± SD) was 55 ± 13 years (range, 24-74 years). Of these 88 patients, 8 (9%) overall complications occurred. Complications were wound healing failures (n = 5), tendon rupture (n = 1), hematoma (n = 1), and surgical-site infection (n = 1). Perioperative medications included steroids (n = 31), nonbiological DMARDs (n = 68), biological DMARDs (n = 5), and no medication (n = 27). There were no significant differences in overall complications between patients on immunosuppressant medications and those on no medications. Median (interquartile range) follow-up was 11.5 months (5-25.8) (range, 2-74 months).

CONCLUSIONS

We found that patients who continued or discontinued medications within 1 dosing interval of their usual dose perioperatively had similar rates of complications following elective hand surgery.

TYPE OF STUDY/LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

Therapeutic IV.

Immunosuppression and the risk of readmission and mortality in patients with rheumatoid arthritis undergoing hip fracture, abdominopelvic and cardiac surgery

OBJECTIVES

The impact of immunosuppression on postoperative outcomes has primarily been studied in patients undergoing joint replacement surgery. We aimed to evaluate the impact of biologics and glucocorticoids on outcomes after other major surgeries.

METHODS

This retrospective cohort study used Medicare data 2006-2015 to identified adults with rheumatoid arthritis undergoing hip fracture repair, abdominopelvic surgery (cholecystectomy, hysterectomy, hernia, appendectomy, colectomy) or cardiac surgery (coronary artery bypass graft, mitral/aortic valve). Logistic regression with propensity-score-based inverse probability weighting compared 90-day mortality and 30-day readmission in patients receiving methotrexate (without a biologic or targeted synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (tsDMARD)), a tumour necrosis factor inhibitor (TNFi) or a non-TNFi biologic/tsDMARD <8 weeks before surgery. Similar analyses evaluated associations between glucocorticoids and outcomes.

RESULTS

We identified 10 777 eligible surgeries: 3585 hip fracture, 5025 abdominopelvic and 2167 cardiac surgeries. Compared with patients receiving methotrexate, there was no increase in the risk of 90-day mortality or 30-day readmission among patients receiving a TNFi (mortality adjusted OR (aOR) 0.83 (0.67 to 1.02), readmission aOR 0.86 (0.75 to 0.993)) or non-TNFi biologic/tsDMARD (mortality aOR 0.78 (0.49 to 1.22), readmission aOR 1.02 (0.78 to 1.33)). Analyses stratified by surgery category were similar. Risk of mortality and readmission was higher with 5-10 mg/day of glucocorticoids (mortality aOR 1.41 (1.08 to 1.82), readmission aOR 1.26 (1.05 to 1.52)) or >10 mg/day (mortality aOR 1.64 (1.02 to 2.64), readmission aOR 1.60 (1.15 to 2.24)) versus no glucocorticoids, although results varied when stratifying by surgery category.

CONCLUSIONS

Recent biologic or tsDMARD use was not associated with a greater risk of mortality or readmission after hip fracture, abdominopelvic or cardiac surgery compared with methotrexate. Higher dose glucocorticoids were associated with greater risk.

Perioperative management of immunosuppression in patients with rheumatoid arthritis

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

Patients with rheumatoid arthritis are at increased risk of infection after surgery. Recent literature has provided more data and updated guidelines to guide the management of immunosuppression in the perioperative period.

RECENT FINDINGS

Studies over the past few years have confirmed that patients with rheumatoid arthritis are at increased risk of infection after surgery. Patients treated with biologics are at greater risk of postoperative infection, but this risk might be explained by the comorbidities and greater disease severity often seen in these patients. Recent observational studies have suggested that interruption of biologic therapies before surgery may not be associated with better outcomes. Glucocorticoids, however, have consistently been found to be risk factors for infection. Recent guidelines from the American College of Rheumatology/American Association of Hip and Knee Surgeons recommend continuing conventional disease-modifying drugs and holding biologics for one dosing interval before surgery.

SUMMARY

Prolonged interruption of conventional and biologic therapies before surgery does not appear to substantially reduce infection risk. Guidelines now recommend continuing conventional DMARDs and holding biologics for just one dosing interval before surgery. Glucocorticoids are strongly associated with the risk of postoperative infection and should be minimized before surgery.

Prevention of Infection in the Perioperative Setting in Patients with Rheumatic Disease Treated with Immunosuppression

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

Patients with autoimmune rheumatic disease are at increased risk of infection after surgery. The goal of this manuscript is to review current evidence on important contributors to infection risk in these patients and the optimal management of immunosuppression in the perioperative setting.

RECENT FINDINGS

Recent studies have confirmed that patients with autoimmune rheumatic disease, including rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), are at increased risk of infection after surgery, with most evidence coming from studies of joint replacement surgery. Immunosuppression, disease activity, comorbidities, demographics, and surgeon and hospital volume are all important contributors to post-operative infection risk. Recently published guidelines regarding immunosuppression management before joint replacement recommend continuing the conventional disease-modifying drugs used to treat RA (e.g., methotrexate) without interruption, holding more potent conventional therapies for 1 week unless the underlying disease is severe, and holding biologic therapies for one dosing interval before surgery. Recent observational data suggests that holding biologics may not have a substantial impact on infection risk. These data also implicate glucocorticoids as a major contributor to post-operative infection risk. Observational data supports recent recommendations to continue many therapies in the perioperative period with only short interruptions of biologics and other potent immunosuppression. Even brief interruptions may not significantly lower risk, although the field continues to evolve. Clinicians should also consider other risk factors and should focus on minimizing glucocorticoids before surgery when possible to limit the risk of post-operative infection.

Validation of discharge diagnosis codes to identify serious infections among middle age and older adults

OBJECTIVES

Hospitalisations for serious infections are common among middle age and older adults and frequently used as study outcomes. Yet, few studies have evaluated the performance of diagnosis codes to identify serious infections in this population. We sought to determine the positive predictive value (PPV) of diagnosis codes for identifying hospitalisations due to serious infections among middle age and older adults.

SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS

We identified hospitalisations for possible infection among adults >=50 years enrolled in the Tennessee Medicaid healthcare programme (2008-2012) using International Classifications of Diseases, Ninth Revision diagnosis codes for pneumonia, meningitis/encephalitis, bacteraemia/sepsis, cellulitis/soft-tissue infections, endocarditis, pyelonephritis and septic arthritis/osteomyelitis.

DESIGN

Medical records were systematically obtained from hospitals randomly selected from a stratified sampling framework based on geographical region and hospital discharge volume.

MEASURES

Two trained clinical reviewers used a standardised extraction form to abstract information from medical records. Predefined algorithms served as reference to adjudicate confirmed infection-specific hospitalisations. We calculated the PPV of diagnosis codes using confirmed hospitalisations as reference. Sensitivity analyses determined the robustness of the PPV to definitions that required radiological or microbiological confirmation. We also determined inter-rater reliability between reviewers.

RESULTS

The PPV of diagnosis codes for hospitalisations for infection (n=716) was 90.2% (95% CI 87.8% to 92.2%). The PPV was highest for pneumonia (96.5% (95% CI 93.9% to 98.0%)) and cellulitis (91.1% (95% CI 84.7% to 94.9%)), and lowest for meningitis/encephalitis (50.0% (95% CI 23.7% to 76.3%)). The adjudication reliability was excellent (92.7% agreement; first agreement coefficient: 0.91). The overall PPV was lower when requiring microbiological confirmation (45%) and when requiring radiological confirmation for pneumonia (79%).

CONCLUSIONS

Discharge diagnosis codes have a high PPV for identifying hospitalisations for common, serious infections among middle age and older adults. PPV estimates for rare infections were imprecise.

Perioperative Timing of Infliximab and the Risk of Serious Infection After Elective Hip and Knee Arthroplasty

OBJECTIVE

The optimal timing of tumor necrosis factor antagonists before elective surgery is unknown. This study evaluated the association between infliximab timing and serious infection after elective hip or knee arthroplasty.

METHODS

A retrospective cohort study evaluated US Medicare patients with rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, or ankylosing spondylitis who received infliximab within 6 months of elective knee or hip arthroplasty from 2007 to 2013. Propensity-adjusted analyses examined whether infliximab stop timing (time between the most recent infusion and surgery) was associated with hospitalized infection within 30 days or prosthetic joint infection (PJI) within 1 year.

RESULTS

Hospitalized infection within 30 days occurred after 270 of 4,288 surgeries (6.3%). Infliximab stop timing <4 weeks versus 8-12 weeks was not associated with an increase in infection within 30 days (propensity-adjusted odds ratio [OR] 0.90 [95% confidence interval (95% CI) 0.60-1.34]). The rate of PJI was 2.9 per 100 person-years and was not increased in patients with stop timing <4 weeks versus 8-12 weeks (hazard ratio [HR] 0.98 [95% CI 0.52-1.87]). Glucocorticoid dosage >10 mg/day was associated with increased risk of 30-day infection (OR 2.11 [95% CI 1.30-3.40]) and PJI (HR 2.70 [95% CI 1.30-5.60]). Other risk factors for infection included elderly age, comorbidities, revision surgery, and previous hospitalized infection.

CONCLUSION

Administering infliximab within 4 weeks of elective knee or hip arthroplasty was not associated with a higher risk of short- or long-term serious infection compared to withholding infliximab for longer time periods. Glucocorticoid use, especially >10 mg/day, was associated with an increased infection risk.

Prevention of Periprosthetic Joint Infection: Examining the Recent Guidelines

BACKGROUND

The global rise in infectious disease has led the Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization to release new guidelines for the prevention of surgical site infection.

METHODS

In this article, we summarize current recommendations based on level of evidence, review unresolved and unaddressed issues, and supplement them with new literature.

RESULTS

Although the guidelines discuss major issues in reducing surgical site infection, many questions remain unanswered.

CONCLUSION

These guidelines will hopefully help in setting a standard of care based on best evidence available and focus investigators on areas where evidence is lacking.