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Is It Advisable To Discontinue Levothyroxine And Liothyronine Before A Partial Knee Replacement?
Question: Is it safe to discontinue my levothyroxine and liothyranine 5 days before partial knee replacement? Is it necessary?
Brief Answer:
Thyroid
Detailed Answer:
1 Liothyronine is typically not recommended by thyroid experts as it is deemed unsafe. The standard best practice globally is to prescribe Levo thyroxine for the treatment of an under-active thyroid condition ('Hypothyroidism').
Liothyronine is sometimes used is extremely uncommon situations such a life threatening thyroid emergency and the other example is in the context of thyroid cancer testing.
2 There are only a few situations where levo thyroxine is stopped. Two examples include:
a) When the diagnosis of hypothyroidism is suspected to be incorrect and trial of medication is warranted to see if the thyroid functions normally without levo thyroxine.
b) When the dose of levo thyroxine is excessive, as evidenced by blood test results. Here too, most commonly, the dose is reduced instead of entirely stopping it for several days.
3 To my knowledge, it is not standard practice to stop thyroid medications prior to surgery. However, you must ask your doctor for specific reasons in your situation.
Thyroid
Detailed Answer:
1 Liothyronine is typically not recommended by thyroid experts as it is deemed unsafe. The standard best practice globally is to prescribe Levo thyroxine for the treatment of an under-active thyroid condition ('Hypothyroidism').
Liothyronine is sometimes used is extremely uncommon situations such a life threatening thyroid emergency and the other example is in the context of thyroid cancer testing.
2 There are only a few situations where levo thyroxine is stopped. Two examples include:
a) When the diagnosis of hypothyroidism is suspected to be incorrect and trial of medication is warranted to see if the thyroid functions normally without levo thyroxine.
b) When the dose of levo thyroxine is excessive, as evidenced by blood test results. Here too, most commonly, the dose is reduced instead of entirely stopping it for several days.
3 To my knowledge, it is not standard practice to stop thyroid medications prior to surgery. However, you must ask your doctor for specific reasons in your situation.
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Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Answered by
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