Patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) who are having a joint replacement are more likely to face an infection risk from glucocorticoids than from a biologic they may be prescribed, a US study suggests.

Researchers analysed retrospective data on nearly 11,000 procedures in adults with RA having elective total knee or hip arthroplasty, either primary or revision, and who had recently received abatacept, adalimumab, etanercept, infliximab, rituximab or tocilizumab before surgery.