Infection and Mechanical Complications Are Risk Factors for New Diagnosis of a Mental Health Disorder After Total Joint Arthroplasty

Comparison of Delphi Consensus Criteria and Musculoskeletal Infection Society Outcome Reporting Tool Definitions of Successful Surgical Treatment of Periprosthetic Knee Infection

BACKGROUND

Agreement on success following surgical treatment for periprosthetic joint infection (PJI) is important for comparing the efficacy of different surgical approaches with varying consequences and outcomes and setting patient expectations. We compared success rates following two-stage exchange arthroplasty for knee PJI using two expert-consensus definitions of success.

METHODS

Prospectively documented data for 57 knees treated by a single surgeon at an academic tertiary care center were retrospectively reviewed. Treatment outcomes were quantified using the Delphi Consensus Criteria and the Musculoskeletal Infection Society Outcome Reporting Tool (MSIS ORT).

RESULTS

Success rates were 81% using the Delphi Consensus Criteria and 56% using the MSIS ORT (P = .008). The MSIS ORT success rates increased to 76% when aseptic revisions and deaths unrelated to PJI were not penalized as failures of treatment. Predicted probabilities of successful treatment in a hypothetical case scenario were lowest based on the MSIS ORT and similarly higher using Delphi Consensus Criteria and MSIS ORT modified for both women (53.0, 90.8, and 88.7%) and men (29.1, 89.1, and 89.3%).

CONCLUSIONS

Study observations underscore the need for a uniformly accepted single definition of surgical treatment success.

The Effect of Spacer Treatment of Infected Hip and Knee Arthroplasties on Patients' Mental Health: A Narrative Review of the Literature

BACKGROUND

The gold standard treatment for periprosthetic joint infections is the two-stage revision that includes the spacer placement before definitive reimplantation. The management of PJI affects patients' joint function and, subsequently, their mental health. Even though significant advances have been achieved, little to no attention has been paid to the psychological implications. So, based on standardized patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs), this study aimed to clarify the effect of spacer treatment of infected hip and knee arthroplasties on patients' mental health.

METHODS

We performed research on the literature on PJIs in the English language using the MEDLINE database with the search strings "spacer" OR "spacers" AND "hip" OR "knee" AND "SF-12" OR "SF-36" OR "EQ-5" OR "mental" OR "depression" OR "anxiety." The reference lists of selected articles were also hand-searched for any additional articles.

RESULTS

A total of 973 published papers were extracted, and 9 papers were finally included. A total of 384 patients who underwent spacer placement for PJI were identified. Of these 384 patients, 54% were female. The mean age ranged from 62 to 78.2 years. Of the11 papers identified for this review, 4 analyzed only hip spacers, including 119 patients; 4 only knee spacers, evaluating 153 patients; while a single study included 112 patients for both joints.

CONCLUSIONS

Patients with the spacer are living in a state of mental upset, albeit better than the preoperative state. Clinical improvement with the review is not assured. The alteration of mental state turns out not to be transient for all the patients.

Prevalence of Depressive Symptoms in Aseptic Revision Total Knee Arthroplasty Based on the Mode of Failure

Background

Complications following total knee arthroplasty (TKA) that necessitate revision cause considerable psychological distress and symptoms of depression, which are linked to poorer postoperative outcomes, increased complications, and increased healthcare utilization. We aimed to identify the prevalence of mental health disorders and symptoms preoperatively and postoperatively in patients undergoing aseptic revision TKA and to stratify these patients based on their mechanism of failure.

Methods

All patients undergoing aseptic revision TKA from 2008 to 2019 with a minimum 1-year follow-up were retrospectively reviewed at a single institution. Patients (n = 394) were grouped based on 7 failure modes previously described. Patients were considered to have depressive symptoms if their Veterans RAND-12 mental component score was below 42. Preoperative and postoperative Veterans RAND-12 mental component scores at the latest follow-up were evaluated.

Results

Overall comparative prevalence of preoperative to postoperative depressive symptoms was 23.4%-18.8%. By mode of failure are as follows: arthrofibrosis (25.8%-16.7%), aseptic loosening (25.3%-18.9%), extensor mechanism disruption (25%-50%), failed unicompartmental knee arthroplasty (8.6%-14.3%), instability (25.7%-17.1%), osteolysis or polyethylene wear (23.1%-23.1%), and patellar failure (11.8%-23.5%). There was no difference in depressive symptoms among failure modes preoperatively (P = .376) or at the latest postoperative follow-up (P = .175).

Conclusions

The prevalence of depressive symptoms in revision TKA patients appears to be independent of failure mode. Surgeon awareness and screening for depressive symptoms in this patient population preoperatively with referral for potential treatment may improve early postoperative outcomes.

The Effect of Prosthetic Joint Infection on Work Status and Quality of Life: A Multicenter, International Study

BACKGROUND

Periprosthetic joint infection (PJI) and subsequent revision surgeries may affect patients' social and physical health, ability to complete daily activities, and disability status. This study sought to determine how PJI affects patients' quality of life through patient-reported outcome measures with minimum 1-year follow-up.

METHODS

Patients who suffered PJI following primary total joint arthroplasty (TJA) from 2012 to 2021 were retrospectively reviewed. Patients met Musculoskeletal Infection Society criteria for acute or chronic PJI, underwent revision TJA surgery, and had at least 1 year of follow-up. Patients were surveyed regarding how PJI affected their work and disability status, as well as their mental and physical health. Outcome measures were compared between acute and chronic PJIs. In total, 318 patients (48.4% total knee arthroplasty and 51.6% total hip arthroplasty) met inclusion criteria.

RESULTS

Following surgical treatment for knee and hip PJI, a substantial proportion of patients reported that they were unable to negotiate stairs (20.5%), had worse physical health (39.6%), and suffered worse mental health (25.2%). A high proportion of patients reported worse quality of life (38.5%) and social satisfaction (35.3%) following PJI. Worse reported patient-reported outcome measures including patients' ability to complete daily physical activities were found among patients undergoing treatment for chronic PJI, and also, 23% of patients regretted their initial decision to pursue primary TJA.

CONCLUSIONS

A PJI negatively affects patients' ability to carry out everyday activities. This patient population is prone to report challenges overcoming disability and returning to work. Patients should be adequately educated regarding the risk of PJI to decrease later potential regrets.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

Case series (IV).

Utility of Diagnostic Tests Before Reimplantation in Patients Undergoing 2-Stage Revision Total Joint Arthroplasty: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

INTRODUCTION

Periprosthetic joint infection (PJI) is a devastating complication after total joint arthroplasty (TJA), with treatment failure occurring in 12% to 28% after 2-stage revision. It is vital to identify diagnostic tools indicative of persistent infection or treatment failure after 2-stage revision for PJI.

METHODS

The Cochrane Library, PubMed (MEDLINE), and EMBASE were searched for randomized controlled trials and comparative observational studies published before October 3, 2021, which evaluated the utility of serum/plasma biomarkers (erythrocyte sedimentation rate [ESR], C-reactive protein [CRP], interleukin-6 [IL-6], fibrinogen, D-dimer), synovial biomarkers (white blood cell [WBC] count, neutrophil percentage [PMN %], alpha-defensin [AD], leukocyte esterase [LE]), tissue frozen section, tissue culture, synovial fluid culture, or sonicated spacer fluid culture indicative of persistent infection before the second stage of 2-stage revision for PJI or treatment failure after 2-stage revision for PJI.

RESULTS

A total of 47 studies including 6,605 diagnostic tests among 3,781 2-stage revisions for PJI were analyzed. Among those cases, 723 (19.1%) experienced persistent infection or treatment failure. Synovial LE (sensitivity 0.25 [0.10-0.47], specificity 0.99 [0.93-1.00], positive likelihood ratio 14.0 [1.45-135.58]) and serum IL-6 (sensitivity 0.52 [0.33-0.70], specificity 0.92 [0.85-0.96], positive likelihood ratio 7.90 [0.86-72.61]) had the highest diagnostic accuracy. However, no biomarker was associated with a clinically useful negative likelihood ratio. In subgroup analysis, synovial PMN %, synovial fluid culture, serum ESR, and serum CRP had limited utility for detecting persistent infection before reimplantation (positive likelihood ratios ranging 2.33-3.74; negative likelihood ratios ranging 0.31-0.9) and no utility for predicting failure after the second stage of 2-stage revision.

CONCLUSIONS

Synovial WBC count, synovial PMN %, synovial fluid culture, serum ESR, and serum CRP have modest sensitivity and specificity for predicting persistent infection during the second stage of 2-stage revision, suggesting some combination of these diagnostic tests might be useful before reimplantation. No biomarker or culture accurately predicted treatment failure after reimplantation.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

Level III. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.

Relationship Between Mental Health Disorders and Readmissions Following Total Joint Arthroplasty: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

BACKGROUND

There is limited evidence exploring the relationship between mental health disorders and the readmissions following total joint arthroplasty (TJA). Therefore, we conducted a meta-analysis to evaluate the relationship between mental health disorders and the risk of readmission following TJA.

METHODS

We searched PubMed, Cochrane, and Google Scholar from their inception till April 19, 2022. Studies exploring the association of mental health disorders and readmission risk following TJA were selected. The outcomes were divided into 30-day readmission, 90-day readmission, and readmission after 90 days. We also performed subgroup analyses based on the type of arthroplasty: total hip arthroplasty (THA) and total knee arthroplasty (TKA). A total of 12 studies were selected, of which 11 were included in quantitative analysis. A total of 1,345,893 patients were evaluated, of which 73,953 patients suffered from mental health disorders.

RESULTS

The risk of 30-day readmission (odds ratio = 1.43, 95% CI 1.14-1.80, P = .002, I² = 87%) and 90-day readmission (OR = 1.35, 95% CI 1.22-1.49, P < .00001, I² = 89%) was significantly associated with mental health disorders. On subgroup analyses, 30-day readmission was significantly associated with THA (OR = 1.29, 95% CI 1.04-1.60, P = .02), but not with TKA (OR = 1.44, 95% CI 0.51-4.06, P = .50). Similarly, 90-day readmission was significantly associated with both THA (OR = 1.21, 95% CI 1.14-1.29, P < .00001) and TKA (OR = 1.33, 95% CI 1.17-1.51, P < .0001).

CONCLUSION

Mental health disorders are significantly associated with increased 30-day and 90-day readmissions. Increasing awareness regarding mental health disorders and readmission in arthroplasty will help in efficient preoperative risk stratification and better postoperative management in these patients.

Increased Prevalence of Depressive Symptoms in Patients Undergoing Revision for Periprosthetic Joint Infection

Background

Periprosthetic joint infection (PJI) is a devastating complication after total joint arthroplasty. Patients undergoing revision for PJI may experience psychological distress and symptoms of depression, both of which are linked to poor postoperative outcomes. We, therefore, aim to identify the prevalence of depression and depressive symptoms in patients before treatment for PJI and their link to functional outcomes.

Methods

Patients undergoing either debridement with implant retention (DAIR) or 2-stage exchange for PJI with minimum 1-year follow-up were retrospectively reviewed. The 2-stage (n = 37) and single-stage (n = 39) patients that met inclusion criteria were matched based off age (±5 years), gender, and body mass index (±5) to patients undergoing aseptic revisions. Outcomes evaluated included a preoperative diagnosis of clinical depression and preoperative and postoperative Veterans RAND 12 Item Health Survey mental component score and physical component score.

Results

Compared to matched controls, the prevalence of depressive symptoms was significantly greater in patients undergoing 2-stage exchange preoperatively (40.5% vs 10.8%, P < .01) but not postoperatively (21.6% vs 10.8%, P = .20). Patients undergoing DAIR with either preoperative depressive symptoms (31.3 vs 40.9, P = .05) or a preoperative diagnosis of depression (27.7 vs 43.1, P < .01) had significantly lower physical component scores postoperatively.

Conclusions

Patients undergoing 2-stage exchange for PJI have a four times higher prevalence of preoperative depressive symptoms than patients undergoing aseptic revision. Patients undergoing DAIR with depression or preoperative depressive symptoms have lower functional scores postoperatively. Orthopedic surgeon screening of PJI patients with referral for treatment of depression may help improve outcomes postoperatively.