PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Shigeki Momohara
AU  - Eisuke Inoue
AU  - Katsunori Ikari
AU  - Kensuke Ochi
AU  - Osamu Ishida
AU  - Koichiro Yano
AU  - Yu Sakuma
AU  - Shinji Yoshida
AU  - Takuma Koyama
AU  - Naoko Koenuma
AU  - Atsuo Taniguchi
AU  - Hisashi Yamanaka
TI  - Recent Trends in Orthopedic Surgery Aiming to Improve Quality of Life for Those with Rheumatoid Arthritis: Data from a Large Observational Cohort
AID  - 10.3899/jrheum.131018
DP  - 2014 Apr 01
TA  - The Journal of Rheumatology
PG  - jrheum.131018
4099  - http://www.jrheum.org/content/early/2014/03/26/jrheum.131018.short
4100  - http://www.jrheum.org/content/early/2014/03/26/jrheum.131018.full
AB  - Objective To describe current trends in the numbers of rheumatoid arthritis (RA)-related surgeries. Methods The number of operations was determined for patients with RA in a large observational cohort [Institute of Rheumatology, Rheumatoid Arthritis (IORRA)] enrolled from 2001 to 2012. Results The total number of operations peaked in 2002 and gradually decreased thereafter, but began to increase again in 2008. The number of total knee replacements has decreased since 2003, while the number of wrist and foot arthroplasties and the number of artificial finger prosthesis surgeries have increased gradually. Conclusion Our results suggest that the number of orthopedic surgeries may change in response to changes in the drug therapy for RA.