What Causes Atrial Fibrillation After Hip Replacement Surgery?

Posted on Tue, 4 Apr 2017

Question: My husband, who is 85 and has been very healthy his entire life, taking no regular perscription medicine until about 1 year ago, when he was diagnosed with Atrial Fibrillation. He also had a 2nd hip replacement surgery about 2 years ago, after his initial hip replacement was recalled. Also, in the past year he has had 2 Cardiac ablation surgeries. One week after his second cardiac ablation he developed a bad case of shingles, wrapping from his sternum around his chest, over his heart, to his spine. It has been 3 months, and while the rash is basically gone the nerve pain remains. And, his hip has been extremely painful and we are trying to get into the orthoapedic doctor for examination of that same hip. He says the pain he is feeling is very different than the hip pain he experienced before. I am concerned that maybe he has an infection in that hip that has been developing, which may have resulted in his afibrilation as well as the shingles. He has always been so active and healthy, many think he is 20 years younger than he is. He has a healthy diet, doesn't smoke and drinks socially. Could an infection be causing these other health issues ? He has gone down hill quite a bit in the past several months, very lethargic and has a lot of hip pain, and walks now with a limp due to the pain.

Answered by Dr. Ahmed Aly Hassan (1 hour later)

Brief Answer:
no i do not think his hip surgery is the main cause of his atrial fibrillation . hot massages with topical gels , B12 supplements , physiotherapy will be helpful .

Detailed Answer:
Hi i am Dr Ahmed Aly
thanks for using HealthcareMagic site ,
I had gone through your question and understand your concerns ..

In my opinion i do not think his second hip replacement surgery may have caused cardiac atrial fibrillation even if it caused some sort of infection in hip joint .
I think his limbing gait is due to inflammation of his hip joint maybe he got infection in his synthetic joint that causes his pain and gait . i think when the inflammation around his hip joint decreases his leg will move more freely and with less pain .
You mentioned taking tylenol , gabapentin which will help with his hip pain . he may use a muscle relaxant , B12 vitamin supplementation , hot massages with topical gels , physiotherapy and spinal straightening exercises will be effective for most of cases .
I think his cardiac problem is due to aging , medication , stress . hope your husband feel better soon . just try to decrease his weight , avoid heavy lifting , vigorous movements and follow physiotherapy with a chiropractor and he will be fine until he meets his orthopedic for proper evaluation and management .

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Remy Koshy