SIX-YEAR FOLLOW-UP OF MULTIPLE JOINT REPLACEMENT SURGERY TO THE LOWER LIMBS

We report a 6-yr follow-up study of an original population of 50 patients who had three or more major joints (hips and knees) replaced. Thirty-one of 32 surviving patients were still ambulant in the community, and all patients described significant pain relief. No RA patient was requiring permanent inpatient or residential care and the family remained the main social support. They remained a very disabled group with a median Health Assessment Questionnaire score of 2.75. Ten required revision surgery: three hips and seven knees; four patients required their fourth lower limb joint (hip/knee) replaced and seven patients required surgery to the upper limbs and nine feet during the follow-up period