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People who have had total knee replacement could be at an increased risk of hip fracture, says a recent study. The research based on hip and vertebral fracture establishes an association between knee replacement and hip fracture that has not been studied by far.

The reason behind the fracture, however, happens to be the increased mobility among people that have had knee replacement surgery. People tend to use their limbs as actively as they were using it before the surgery. The success of knee replacement procedure could itself be the reason for the hip fracture seen in the patients but negligible in terms of their quality of life after surgery.

Messer, who directs the hospital's Center for Pituitary and Neuroendocrine Disorders noted that people who prefer knee replacement for other conservative management therapies are those that might have been following a more active lifestyle earlier. Continuing to follow such a lifestyle even after surgery could be riskier in terms of their safety against fractures, she added, according to UPI.

The research led by C. H. Vala of the Sahlgrenska Academy in Sweden analyzed medical records of people born in Sweden between 1902 and 1952 for their study. About 3,200 people were found to have had total knee replacement followed by hip fracture from 1987 to 2002.

The findings suggested that people who had knee replacement surgery had decreased risk of hip and spinal fractures when compared to the risk they faced before osteoarthritis. However, the risk of hip fracture increased around four percent and spinal fracture to 19 percent when compared to those that haven't had knee replacement surgeries.

"Studies have shown that osteoarthritis is associated with higher bone mass, and, as well, there may be a decreased physical activity level due to pain," said lead author of the study, C. H. Vala, noted Escience News.

"The increasing risk for hip and vertebral fracture in the 10 years after knee replacement may be explained by pain, increase of physical activity due to rehabilitation, and other biomechanical factors. With approximately 13,000 total knee replacements carried out in Sweden annually, further research on the increased fracture risk in this population group is needed," added Vala.