Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42654395›Full record

SynthesisMedicina (Kaunas, Lithuania)2026

Perioperative Management of Antirheumatic Medications in Adults with Rheumatoid Arthritis Undergoing Arthroplasty and Other Orthopedic Procedures: A Systematic Review.

Ibrahim Al-Obaidi, Ibrahim Alabid, Afra Al-Dhaheri, Zain Al-Abdeen Mohammed Qassim, Mohamedanas Mohamedfaruk Patni, Mohamed El-Tanani, Syed Arman Rabbani, Aesha Shuaeeb, Radwan Abdulaziz Aloti, Wasim I I Alghoul

Abstract readSystematic ReviewReview
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania), 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors.

Ibrahim Al-ObaidiSheikh Tahnoon Bin Mohammed Medical City, PureHealth, Al Ain P.O. Box 15258, United Arab Emirates.ORCID 0009-0001-4486-5247
Ibrahim AlabidRAK College of Medical Sciences, RAK Medical and Health Sciences University, Ras Al Khaimah 11172, United Arab Emirates.ORCID 0009-0008-6854-7041
Afra Al-DhaheriRheumatology Department, Tawam/Sheikh Tahnoon Bin Mohammed Medical City Hospital, PureHealth, Al Ain P.O. Box 15258, United Arab Emirates.
Zain Al-Abdeen Mohammed QassimRAK College of Medical Sciences, RAK Medical and Health Sciences University, Ras Al Khaimah 11172, United Arab Emirates.
Mohamedanas Mohamedfaruk PatniDepartment of Community Medicine, RAK College of Medical Sciences, RAK Medical and Health Sciences University, Ras Al Khaimah 11172, United Arab Emirates.ORCID 0000-0001-6948-3619
Mohamed El-TananiRAK College of Pharmacy, RAK Medical and Health Science University, Ras Al Khaimah 11172, United Arab Emirates.
Syed Arman RabbaniRAK College of Pharmacy, RAK Medical and Health Science University, Ras Al Khaimah 11172, United Arab Emirates.ORCID 0000-0002-8454-8158
Aesha ShuaeebSheikh Tahnoon Bin Mohammed Medical City, PureHealth, Al Ain P.O. Box 15258, United Arab Emirates.
Radwan Abdulaziz AlotiRAK College of Medical Sciences, RAK Medical and Health Sciences University, Ras Al Khaimah 11172, United Arab Emirates.ORCID 0009-0008-9497-3781
Wasim I I AlghoulRAK College of Medical Sciences, RAK Medical and Health Sciences University, Ras Al Khaimah 11172, United Arab Emirates.ORCID 0009-0003-7791-0942

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Perioperative management of antirheumatic medications in adults with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) undergoing orthopedic surgery requires balancing postoperative infection and impaired wound healing against disease flare, pain, and delayed rehabilitation. This systematic review aimed to evaluate how perioperative continuation, withholding, interruption timing, restart timing, dose modification, or exposure to antirheumatic medications relates to postoperative outcomes in adults with RA undergoing arthroplasty and non-arthroplasty orthopedic procedures. PubMed, Scopus, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials were searched from database inception to 18 April 2026 for English-language full-text clinical studies. The primary outcomes were surgical site infection/periprosthetic joint infection, delayed wound healing, and postoperative RA flare. Secondary outcomes included reoperation, revision, readmission, mortality, venous thromboembolism, dislocation, and other procedure-specific complications. Original studies were classified as direct perioperative strategy evidence, medication-exposure evidence, or supportive clinical-context evidence. Forty-three original clinical studies were included, together with six non-original contextual sources. The evidence was predominantly observational, clinically heterogeneous, and of very low certainty. Methotrexate continuation was not associated with an evident increase in early postoperative complications, whereas direct evidence for other conventional synthetic agents was limited. Longer interruption of biologic or targeted synthetic therapy did not consistently reduce infection or wound-healing complications, while several studies associated treatment interruption with postoperative flare. Chronic baseline glucocorticoid exposure was associated with adverse outcomes but was clinically distinct from short-term perioperative administration; stress-dose supplementation was not directly evaluated. Medication decisions should therefore be individualized according to drug class, disease control, glucocorticoid burden, surgical procedure, and patient risk profile.

Indexed as

Antirheumatic AgentsArthritis, RheumatoidArthroplastyOrthopedic ProceduresPerioperative CareAdultHumansPostoperative ComplicationsTreatment InterruptionAntirheumatic Agentsarthroplastybiologicsdelayed wound healingdisease-modifying antirheumatic drugsflareglucocorticoidsJAK inhibitorsorthopedic surgeryperioperative managementrheumatoid arthritissurgical site infection

Identifiers

PMID42654395
PMCPMC13514889

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.