The mainstay of treatment for rheumatoid arthritis is medical therapy. Surgery is usually reserved for patients with debilitating disease, failure of medical therapy, and radiographic findings of end-stage arthritis. Various surgical options used for the treatment of RA include tenosynovectomy, arthroscopic or open synovectomy, joint fusion, small joint implant arthroplasty, total joint replacement of deformed joint.

The mainstay of treatment for rheumatoid arthritis is medical therapy. Surgery is usually reserved for patients with following conditions:

• Severe pain at rest and with movement
• Failure of medical therapy
• Radiographic findings of end-stage arthritis

Various surgical options used for the treatment of RA are:^[1][2]

• Tenosynovectomy:
  • Used to repair the ruptured tendon.

• Arthroscopic or open synovectomy:
  • Used to excise inflamed tendon.
• Joint fusion
• Small joint implant arthroplasty
• Total joint replacement of deformed joint

Various complications of surgery for rheumatoid arthritis may include:

• Active systemic infection
• Active joint infection