Researchers analyzed coded complications and prolonged length of stay among 5,967 patients who underwent total knee arthroplasty and 4,518 patients who underwent total hip arthroplasty and were discharged between January 2009 and December 2011.
Here are five findings:
1. Among 727 patients who experienced prolonged length of stay, 170 patients experienced complications, which yielded a sensitivity of 41.4 percent with a positive predictive value.
2. The most common hospital-acquired diagnoses included:
- Anemia (27 percent)
- Nausea and/or vomiting (16.6 percent)
- Cardiac arrhythmia (12.8 percent)
- Hyposmolality or hyponatremia (9.9 percent)
3. Cardiac arrhthymia (23.3. percent) and anemia (18.9 percent) were the most common conditions among patients with any hospital-acquired diagnoses and prolonged length of stay.
4. Of the 153 patients reviewed for prolonged length of stay without any secondary diagnosis coded as hospital-acquired, 22.5 percent of TKA and 8.6 percent of THA patients experienced a hospital-acquired condition that caused a prolonged length of stay.
5. The most common causes of delayed discharge were wound drainage and slow progression of physical therapy.
More articles on orthopedics:
Orthopedic surgeon to know: Dr. Terrence Sedgewick of Oregon Orthopedic & Sports Medicine Clinic
Anika Therapeutics’ 1st patient enrolls in HYALOFAST study: 5 takeaways
Orthopedic surgeon to know: Dr. Matthew Beal of Northwestern Medicine
