Table 2. Medications to WITHHOLD Prior To Surgery**
NOT-SEVERE SLE:
WITHHOLD these
medications 1 week prior
to surgery Dosing Interval
Recommended timing
of surgery since last
medication dose
Mycophenolate mofetil Twice daily 1 week aer last dose
Azathioprine Daily or twice daily 1 week aer last dose
Cyclosporine Twice daily 1 week aer last dose
Tacrolimus Twice daily (IV and PO) 1 week aer last dose
Rituximab (Rituxan) Every 4–6 months Month 7
Belimumab IV (Benlysta) Monthly Week 5
Belimumab SQ (Benlysta) Weekly Week 2
Dosing intervals obtained om prescribing information provided online by pharmaceutical
companies.
Bold indicates recommendation that has changed since 2017.
* Recommendation pertains to infection risk and does not account for risk of cardiac
events or venous thromboembolism.
** For patients with RA, AS, PsA, or all SLE for whom anti-rheumatic therapy was held
prior to undergoing TJA, restarting the anti-rheumatic therapy once the wound shows
evidence of healing, any sutures/staples are out, there is no significant swelling, erythema
or drainage, and there is no ongoing non-surgical site infection, which is typically about
14 days.
†
Drug added for 2022 update.
(cont'd)
