Between-hospital and between-surgeon variation in thresholds for hip and knee replacement

Comparative analysis of the quality of life regarding patients who underwent hip replacement in public versus private hospitals in Hungary

The study aimed to investigate the impact of hip replacement surgery on the quality of life and to compare the outcomes by sociodemographic and surgical data in Hungarian public and private hospitals. Patients were selected at the Department of Orthopaedics (Clinical Centre, University of Pécs) and at the Da Vinci Private Clinic in Pécs. Patients completed the SF-36 and Oxford Hip Score (OHS) questionnaires before the surgery, 6 weeks and 3 months later. We also evaluated socio-demographic data, disease and surgical conditions. The research involved 128 patients, 60 patients in public, 68 patients in private hospital. Despite the different sociodemographic characteristics and surgical outcomes of public and private healthcare patients, both groups had significantly improved the quality of life 3 months after hip replacement surgery measured by OHS and SF-36 physical health scores (p < 0.001). In the mental health score, only the patients of the private health sector showed a significant improvement (p < 0.001). The extent of improvement did not differ between the two healthcare sectors according to the OHS questionnaire (p = 0.985). While the SF-36 physical health score showed a higher improvement for public patients (p = 0.027), the mental health score showed a higher improvement for private patients (p = 0.015).

Does preoperative opioid use predict outcomes to 6 months following primary unilateral knee or hip arthroplasty for osteoarthritis? A data-linked retrospective study

BACKGROUND

Few Australian studies have examined the incidence of prescribed opioid use prior to primary total knee or total hip arthroplasty (TKA, THA) and whether it predicts post-surgery outcomes. A recent Australian study demonstrated that the prevalence of pre-arthroplasty opioid use was approximately 16%. In the United States, approximately 24% of people undergoing TKA or THA are chronic opioid users preoperatively.

PURPOSE

This study aimed to determine (i) the proportion of TKA and THA patients who use prescribed opioids regularly (daily) before surgery (i.e., opioid use reported between the time of waitlisting and any time up to 3 months before surgery), (ii) if opioid use before surgery predicts (a) complication/readmission rates to 6-months post-surgery, and (b) patient-reported outcomes to 6-months post-surgery.

METHODS

A retrospective cohort study of patients who underwent TKA or THA between January 2013 and June 2018 from two Australian public hospitals was undertaken utilizing linked individual patient-level data from two prospectively collected independent databases comprising approximately 3,500 and 9,500 people (database contained known opioid usage data within the 5-year time frame). Inclusion criteria included (i) primary diagnosis of osteoarthritis of the index joint, (ii) primary elective THA or TKA, and (iii) age ≥ 18 years. Exclusion criteria included (i) revision arthroplasty, (ii) non-elective arthroplasty, (iii) hip hemiarthroplasty, (iv) uni-compartmental knee arthroplasty, and (v) previous unilateral high tibial osteotomy.

RESULTS

Analysis was completed on 1,187 study participants (64% female, 69% TKA, mean (SD) age 67 [9.9]). 30% were using regular opioids preoperatively. Adjusted regression analyses controlling for multiple co-variates indicated no significant association between preoperative opioid use and complications/readmission rates or patient-reported outcomes to 6 months post-surgery. Model diagnostics produced poor discrimination for area under the curves and non-significant goodness of fit tests. Pre-arthroplasty opioid use was associated with lower health-related quality of life (EuroQol-Visual Analogue Scale) compared to non-opioid users undergoing primary THA (mean difference -5.04 [-9.87, -0.22], P = 0.04, Adjusted R2 = 0.06) CONCLUSION: In this study, 30% of patients were using prescribed opioids daily prior to primary TKA or THA. Pre-arthroplasty opioid use was not associated with postoperative adverse events or patient-reported pain, function, or global perceived improvement up to six months post-surgery.