Association between frailty and clinical post-operative outcomes in patients following hip arthroplasty: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Frailty and the incidence of surgical site infection after total hip or knee arthroplasty: A meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

Surgical site infection (SSI) remains a critical postoperative complication after total hip and knee arthroplasty (THA and TKA). Frailty, a condition characterized by decreased physiological reserve and increased vulnerability to stressors, may influence the risk of SSI in these patients. This meta-analysis aims to evaluate the association between frailty and the incidence of SSI following THA or TKA.

METHODS

A systematic search of databases including PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, Wanfang, and CNKI was conducted to identify relevant studies. Data were extracted and pooled using a random-effects model to calculate the overall risk ratio (RR) and 95 % confidence intervals (CIs).

RESULTS

A total of ten studies comprising 1,036,787 patients met the inclusion criteria. The meta-analysis revealed that frail patients undergoing THA or TKA had a significantly higher risk of developing SSI compared to non-frail patients (RR = 1.64, 95 % CI: 1.39-1.93, p < 0.001, I2 = 66 %). Subgroup analyses indicated that the type of arthroplasty (hip vs. knee) and the method of frailty assessment did not significantly alter the association. Further subgroup analysis suggested that frailty was significantly associated with a higher incidence of deep SSI including joint infection (RR = 1.77, 95 % CI: 1.27-1.48, p < 0.001), but not the incidence of superficial SSI (RR = 1.57, 95 % CI: 0.45-5.42, p = 0.48). The association between frailty and SSI remains in subgroup of multivariate studies only (RR = 1.56, 95 % CI: 1.34 to 1.80, p < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

Frailty is a potential predictor of SSI following TKA/THA.

Preoperative frailty and postoperative complications after non-cardiac surgery: a systematic review

OBJECTIVE

Many tools have been used to assess frailty in the perioperative setting. However, no single scale has been shown to be the most effective in predicting postoperative complications. We evaluated the relationship between several frailty scales and the occurrence of complications following different non-cardiac surgeries.

METHODS

This systematic review was registered in PROSPERO (CRD42023473401). The search strategy included PubMed, Google Scholar, and Embase, covering manuscripts published from January 2000 to July 2023. We included prospective and retrospective studies that evaluated frailty using specific scales and tracked patients postoperatively. Studies on cardiac, neurosurgical, and thoracic surgery were excluded because of the impact of underlying diseases on patients' functional status. Narrative reviews, conference abstracts, and articles lacking a comprehensive definition of frailty were excluded.

RESULTS

Of the 2204 articles identified, 145 were included in the review: 7 on non-cardiac surgery, 36 on general and digestive surgery, 19 on urology, 22 on vascular surgery, 36 on spinal surgery, and 25 on orthopedic/trauma surgery. The reviewed manuscripts confirmed that various frailty scales had been used to predict postoperative complications, mortality, and hospital stay across these surgical disciplines.

CONCLUSION

Despite differences among surgical populations, preoperative frailty assessment consistently predicts postoperative outcomes in non-cardiac surgeries.

Frailty Influence on Postoperative Surgical Site Infections After Surgery for Degenerative Spine Disease and Adult Spine Deformity. Can a Frailty Index be a Valuable Summary Risk Indicator? A Systematic Review and Metanalysis of the Current Literature

STUDY DESIGN

Metanalysis.

OBJECTIVE

Surgical site infections (SSI) is one of the commonest postoperative adverse events after spine surgery. Frailty has been described as a valuable summary risk indicator for SSI in spine surgery. The aim of this metanalysis is to evaluate the influence of frailty on postoperative SSI in this cohort and provide hints on which index can predict the risk of SSI.

METHODS

Papers describing the postoperative SSI rate in adult degenerative spine disease or adult spine deformity patients with varying degrees of frailty were included in the analysis. The SSI rate in different grades of frailty was considered for outcome measure. Meta-analysis was performed on studies in whom data regarding patients with different levels of frailty and occurrence of postoperative SSI could be pooled. P < .05 was considered significant.

RESULTS

16 studies were included. The frailty prevalence measured using mFI-11 ranged from 3% to 17.9%, these values were inferior to those measured with mFI-5. Significant difference was found between frail and non-frail patients in postoperative SSI rate at metanalysis (z = 5.9547, P < .0001 for mFI-5 and z = 3.8334, P = .0001 for mFI-11).

CONCLUSION

This is the first meta-analysis to specifically investigate the impact of frailty, on occurrence of SSI. We found a relevant statistical difference between frail and non-frail patients in SSI occurrence rate. This is a relevant finding, as the ageing of population increases alongside with spine surgery procedures, a better understanding of risk factors may advance our ability to treat patients while minimizing the occurrence of SSI.

Six-Item Modified Frailty Index independently predicts complications following total shoulder arthroplasty

Background

In the realm of orthopedic surgery, frailty has been associated with higher rates of complications following total hip and total knee arthroplasties. Among various measures of frailty, the Six-Item Modified Frailty Index (MF-6) has recently gained popularity as a predictor for postoperative complications. The purpose of this study was to investigate MF-6 as a predictor for early postoperative complications in the elderly patient population following total shoulder arthroplasty (TSA).

Methods

The authors queried the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program database for all patients who underwent TSA between 2015 and 2020. Patient demographics and comorbidities were compared between cohorts using bivariate logistic regression analysis. Multivariate logistic regression, adjusted for all significantly associated patient demographics and comorbidities, was used to identify associations between the MF-6 score and postoperative complications.

Results

Of total, 9228 patients were included in this study: 8764 (95.0%) had MF-6 <3, and 464 (5.0%) patients had MF-6 ≥3. Multivariate analysis found MF-6 ≥3 to be independently associated with higher rates of urinary tract infection (odds ratio [OR]: 2.79, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.49-5.23; P = .001), blood transfusion (OR: 1.53, 95% CI: 1.01-2.32; P = .045), readmission (OR: 1.58, 95% CI: 1.06-2.35; P = .024), and non-home discharge (OR: 2.60, 95% CI: 2.08-3.25; P < .001).

Conclusion

A high MF-6 score (≥3) in patients aged 65 and older is independently associated with higher rates of urinary tract infection, blood transfusion, readmission, and non-home discharge following TSA. The MF-6 score can be easily calculated preoperatively and may allow for better preoperative risk stratification.