Data from a study conducted in Denmark and published online in the journal The BMJ suggest that introduction of biological disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (bDMARDs) may have been linked to a decrease in incidence of total knee arthroplasty (TKA). 

The authors reviewed data on 30,404 patients with incident rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and 297,916 matched control participants. They found that among patients with RA, the incidence rate of TKA increased from 1996 to 2001. After the introduction of bDMARDs in 2003, the rate of TKA steadily decreased. Among the general population, the incidence of TKA increased overall from 1996 to 2016. The authors note that the incidence of total hip arthroplasty had already started to decrease prior to bDMARD introduction. Learn more...