Bilateral hip and knee replacement in rheumatoid arthritis.

A series of 20 patients who had bilateral hip and knee replacement are reviewed and analyzed. Early surgical opinion should be sought before all four joints are irreparably destroyed and the patient is nonambulant so that the joints can be replaced one at a time, as necessary to maintain mobility. This considerably reduces stress to the patient, the surgeon, the nursing staff, and the rehabilitation team. The follow-up period ranged from 2 to 13 years. The early postoperative complications were few and the reoperation rate for aseptic loosening in this study was 3.75%.