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Ko and Park: TNF Inhibitor Use during the Perioperative Period
Original Article

J Korean Rheum Assoc 2009;16(3):175-180.

Published online: 20 September 2009

DOI: https://doi.org/10.4078/jkra.2009.16.3.175

TNF Inhibitor Use during the Perioperative Period

Hyeok Jae Ko1, Sung Hwan Park2

1Division of Rheumatology, Daejeon St. Mary's Hospital, Daejeon, Seoul, Korea

2St. Mary's Hospital, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea

Received 28 May 2009       Revised 20 July 2009       Accepted 20 July 2009

Copyright © 2009 The Korean Rheumatism Association

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

Tumor necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitors are now established as therapeutic agents for treating active rheumatoid arthritis (RA) that is resistant to conventional drug treatment. However, TNF Inhibitors decrease resistance to infection, including unusual infections such as tuberculosis, and they have been shown to impair wound healing in an experimental setting. To date, there is limited data on patients with RA regarding their infections or the complications of surgery performed while taking TNF inhibitors and there is no professional consensus about this. This problem emphasizes a need for awareness and communication between patients, the rheumatologist and the surgeon when treating patients with RA. We reviewed the effects of TNF inhibitors on the incidence of surgical site infection (SSI) and the risk factors for SSIs after performing elective surgery in patients with RA. TNF inhibitors should not be used during the perioperative period until conclusive evidence to the contrary is available.

Keywords: TNF inhibitor, Rheumatoid arthritis, Surgery

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Table 1.
The possible risk factors of perioperative infection with using TNF inhibitors
1. Major surgery (especially foot or ankle surgery)
2. Prior surgical site infection or skin infection
3. Comorbidity (diabetes mellitus, pulmonary disease)
4. Active RA
5. Rheumatoid factor (anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide) positivity
6. Cumulative steroid dose
7. RA disease duration
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