5 things to know about total knee replacement 30-day readmissions

Orthopedic

A new study published in the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery examines readmissions after total knee replacement surgery.

 

The study authors examined the Statewide Planning and Research Cooperative System database in New York State Department of Health. There were 377,705 patients who underwent total knee replacements in the database from 1997 to 2014 and 22,076 all-cause readmissions. Here are five things to know about the study findings:

 

1. The readmission rate was 5.8 percent for all-cause readmissions within 30 days of discharge from the hospital.

 

2. There was some variation as to whether the complications were related to total knee replacements; 11 percent were due to TKR-related issues by CMS while expert opinion reported 31 percent were due to TKR-specific complications.

 

3. The risk factors for total knee replacement-specific readmissions were:

 

• Patients older than 85 years
• Male sex
• Black race
• Medicaid coverage
• Comorbidities

 

4. The patients who underwent surgery at a low volume hospital — a hospital where fewer than 90 cases of total knee replacement are performed per year — was associated with increased readmission risk.

 

5. The study authors concluded the total knee replacement-related complications were low compared to all-cause complications. "Reasons for hospital readmission are multifactorial and may not be amenable to simple interventions. Healthcare-quality measurement of readmissions should be calculated and risk-adjusted on the basis of procedure-specific criteria.

 

More articles on orthopedic surgery:

 

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Dr. Steven Carawan joins Kings Daughters

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