Impact of comorbidity on the short- and medium-term risk of revision in total hip and knee arthroplasty

Background: The impact of comorbidity on the risk of revision in patients undergoing Total Knee arthroplasty (TKA) and Total Hip Arthroplasty (THA) is not currently well known. The aim of this study was to analyze the impact of comorbidity on the risk of revision in TKA and THA. Methods: Patients recorded in the Catalan Arthroplasty Register (RACat) between 01/01/2005 and 31/12/2016 undergoing TKA (n = 49,701) and THA (n = 17,923) caused by osteoarthritis were included. As main explanatory factors, comorbidity burden was assessed by the Elixhauser index, categorized, and specific comorbidities from the index were taken into account. Descriptive analyses for comorbidity burden and specific conditions were done. Additionally, incidence at 1 and 5 years' follow-up was calculated, and adjusted Competing Risks models were fitted. Results: A higher incidence of revision was observed when the number of comorbidities was high, both at 1 and 5 years for THA, but only at 1 year for TKA. Of the specific conditions, only obesity was related to the incidence of revision at 1 year in both joints, and at 5 years in TKA. The risk of revision was related to deficiency anemia and liver diseases in TKA, while in THA, it was related to peripheral vascular disorders, metastatic cancer and psychoses. Conclusions: Different conditions, depending on the joint, might be related to higher revision rates. This information could be relevant for clinical decision-making, patient-specific information and improving the results of both TKA and THA.This article is freely available via Open Access. Click on the Publisher URL to access it via the publisher's site.The present study was funded by CIBER Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBERESP) as part of the aid for short internships granted to Jorge Arias-de la Torre in 2017 and 2018.published version, accepted versio

The impact of age and preoperative health-related quality of life on patient-reported improvements after total hip arthroplasty

Peter K Aalund, Eva N Glassou, Torben B Hansen University Clinic for Hand, Hip and Knee Surgery, Regional Hospital West Jutland, Aarhus University, Holstebro, Denmark Background: Total hip arthroplasty (THA) is a common surgical procedure and approximately 9,500 of these surgeries are performed annually in Denmark. The operation is considered effective and successful with respect to complications, mortality, and implant survival. However, using patient-reported outcome measures, up to 10% of patients are not satisfied with the outcome of their operation. To address this, it is important to find out why some patients experience impaired outcomes after THA. The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of age and preoperative health-related quality of life (HRQoL) on improvements in HRQoL after THA.Methods: A cohort study was conducted with follow-up at 3 and 12 months. Patients were included from September 2008 to December 2013. We analyzed 1,283 THA cases. HRQoL was measured using the EuroQol-5 Domain. Analyses were carried out with multiple linear regression and adjusted for relevant variables available in the data set.Results: A significant positive association was found between age and HRQoL outcomes for patients who underwent THA at both 3 (β [regression coefficient] 0.0026, confidence interval [CI] 0.0013; 0.0039, p<0.001) and 12 (β 0.0020 CI 0.0008; 0.0032, p=0.001) months of follow-up. A clinically relevant change was achieved with an increase in age of 12–15 years. A significant negative association was found between preoperative HRQoL and HRQoL outcomes at both 3 (β−0.841 CI−0.886; −0.795, p<0.001) and 12 (β−0.804 CI−0.844; −0.764, p<0.001) months of follow-up.Conclusion: Contrary to our expectations, older patients had more improvements in HRQoL outcomes after THA. A high preoperative HRQoL seems to inhibit improvements in HRQoLs after THA. Keywords: total hip arthroplasty, THA, health-related quality of life, HRQoL, EuroQol-5D, patient-reported outcom

Delay in surgery, risk of hospital-treated infections and the prognostic impact of comorbidity in hip fracture patients. A Danish nationwide cohort study, 2005–2016

Eva N Glassou,1,2 Kaja KE Kjørholt,3 Torben B Hansen,1 Alma B Pedersen31University clinic for hand, hip and knee surgery, Regional Hospital West Jutland, Aarhus University, Holstebro 7500, Denmark; 2Department of Quality, Regional Hospital West Jutland, Holstebro 7500, Denmark; 3Department of Clinical Epidemiology, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus N 8200, DenmarkPurpose: We examined the association between delay in surgery and hospital-treated infections in hip fracture patients with and without known comorbidities.Patients and methods: All hip fracture patients aged ≥65 years registered in the Danish Multidisciplinary Hip Fracture Registry from 2005 to 2016 were included (n=72,520). Delay in surgery was defined as the time in hours from admission to surgery and was divided into 3 groups (12, 24 and 48 hrs). The outcomes were hospital-treated pneumonia, urinary tract infection and reoperation due to infection 0–30 days after surgery. As a measure of comorbidity, we used the Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI): none (no registered comorbidities prior to the fracture), medium (1–2 points) and high (≥3 points).Results: Overall, there was an association between a delay of 12 hrs and pneumonia. A delay of 12 hrs was associated with an increased risk of pneumonia in patients with no comorbidities (adjusted hazard ratio (HR) 1.20, confidence interval (CI) 1.03–1.40) and a delay of 24 hrs was associated with an increased risk of pneumonia in patients with a medium level of comorbidity (HR 1.12, CI (1.02–1.23)). Overall, delay was associated with reoperation due to infection, particularly among patients with comorbidities, although the confidence intervals of some of the estimates were wide. A delay of 48 hrs was associated with an increased risk of reoperation due to infection in patients with a high level of comorbidity (HR 2.36, CI 1.19–4.69).Conclusion: Delay in surgery was associated with an increased risk of hospital-treated pneumonia and reoperations due to infection within 30 days of surgery. The number of postoperative hospital-treated infections within 30 days may be reduced by continuously targeting pre-, per- and postoperative optimization not only for patients with high level of comorbidity but also for hip fracture patients without known comorbidities prior to surgery.Keywords: hip fracture, delay in surgery, pneumonia, urinary tract infection, reoperation, surgical site infectio