Joint-Replacement Failure Rate Higher for Smokers, American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons Reveals
Knee and hip replacements are more likely to fail in smokers than nonsmokers, according to two new studies. One study of 621 patients, including 131 smokers, who underwent total knee replacement found that the rate of knee-replacement failure was 10 times higher among smokers than nonsmokers -- 10 percent vs. 1 percent.