Cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitors and knee prosthesis surgery

Abstract: Adverse effects of cyclooxygenase (COX) inhibitors on bone healing have previously been demonstrated in diaphyseal fracture models in animals. In spite of that, they are widely used as postoperative analgesics in orthopaedic surgery. After joint replacement, a bone repair process starts at the interface between bone and cement. If this process is disturbed, the prosthesis may never become rigidly fixed to the bone, leading to migration and with time loosening.This thesis investigates the effects of a selective COX-2 inhibitor (parecoxib or celecoxib) on bone healing in metaphyseal bone in a rat model and on knee prosthesis migration after total knee replacement, as measured with radiostereometric analysis. Blood loss, postoperative recovery, and the 2-year subjective outcome, were also measured. In addition, a hemoglobin dilution method for blood loss estimation, used in this thesis, was evaluated.In the first study, pull-out force of a screw inserted in metaphyseal bone of the tibia in rats was only marginally decreased by parecoxib after 7 days but not after 14 days. In the second and third study, celecoxib treatment resulted in less pain postoperatively in conjunction with total knee replacement (TKR), but no effects were seen on blood loss, range of motion, subjective outcome, or prosthesis migration after 2 years.Comparing the true blood loss of blood donors with the blood loss estimated by the hemoglobin dilution method, this method was found to underestimate the true blood loss. It is therefore not suitable for calculation of the absolute blood loss volume, but may be used for a rough estimate.In summary, celecoxib and presumably other cyclooxygenase inhibitors seems not likely to increase the risk of prosthesis loosening.