Sep 01, 2015 11:54 AM EDT By Rashmi Kalia, UniversityHerald Reporter

A new study reveals that patients with osteoarthritis who undergo a hip joint or knee replacement surgery are at a risk of getting a heart attack, Benchmark Reporter reports.

Yuqing Zhang, the lead author of the study said that the study has shown that hip joint or knee replacement surgery may improve the function of the joints and decrease pain but may adversely effect the cardiovascular health.

The study involved 13,849 patients who had undergone knee replacement surgery as well as the same number of subjects who didn't undergo any surgery. All the patients had been diagnosed with hip or knee osteoarthritis between 2000 and 2012. The study showed that 306 patients from the arthroplasty group and 286 patients from the non-surgical group had heart attacks during the follow up.

The study also showed that the risk of heart attack was much higher in the first month after the operation. The risk of heart attack gradually declined as time went on.

Zhang said that the study showed that patients with hip or knee replacements are at a higher risk of getting a heart attack in the postoperative period. He also added that even though the risk of heart attack declined in the long run, the risk of developing venous thromboembolism, or blood clotting in the lungs and veins, remained for years after the surgery.

According to CBS News, the researchers said that the risk of heart attack should not prevent people from having these surgeries.

"Overall, neither knee or hip replacement increases the risk of heart attack over the entire follow-up period in our study, even though the risk was substantially increased shortly after surgery," Zhang said.

"This risk should not keep a patient from having either surgery."

"Contrary to recently published findings, our study indicates that total joint replacement procedures do not provide an overall protective effect on the risk of heart attack."

Dr. Gregg Fonarow, a professor of cardiology at the University of California, Los Angeles, said that the patients can reduce the risk of heart attack by following a heart-healthy lifestyle during and after the surgery.

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