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Updated: Jun 5, 2026
Software-Assisted Quantitative Measurement of Osteoarthritic Subchondral Bone Thickness
Published on: March 18, 2022
Serum levels of bone turnover markers following total joint arthroplasty
Eustathios I Kenanidis1, Michael E Potoupnis, Kyriakos A Papavasillioul
13rd Orthopaedic Department, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki-Medical School, Papageorgiou General Hospital, Thessaloniki, Greece. kena76@otenet.gr
Purpose:
To evaluate changes in serum levels of bone turnover markers during the first year following a total hip or knee arthroplasty (THA or TKA, respectively).
Methods:
34 women and 13 men (mean age, 68 years) with idiopathic hip or knee osteoarthritis underwent elective THA or TKA. The serum levels of (1) osteoprotegerin, (2) nuclear factor-kappa B ligand (RANKL), (3) osteocalcin, and (4) bone-specific alkaline phosphatase (b-ALP) were determined in each patient on preoperative day 1 and postoperative day 3 and 7, and month 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, and 12.
Results:
All 4 markers changed significantly over the 12-month period. At month 12, values of all markers did not return to their preoperative levels uniformly. At month 8, the serum levels of osteoprotegerin, osteocalcin, and b-ALP remained higher than their respective preoperative values. The serum levels of RANKL gradually decreased after month 2, rendering this marker a potential index for fixation.
Conclusions:
Bone turnover markers change following arthroplasties. Postoperative month 8 seems to be a milestone in the normal course of these markers.
