The Journal of arthroplasty
-
The objective of this study was to evaluate the most common treatments performed for hip fractures over the last decade in the United States. The leading treatment for trochanteric fractures was internal fixation, accounting for 96%-98% of surgical treatments each year. ⋯ In 2009, two-thirds of patients younger than 60 years underwent internal fixation while two-thirds of patients 60 years or older underwent HA. Regardless of patient age, HA was performed more often than THA for cervical hip fractures.
-
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act contains a number of provision for improving the delivery of healthcare in the United States, among the most impactful of which may be the call for modifications in the packaging of and payment for care that is bundled into episodes. The move away from fee for service payment models to payment for coordinated care delivered as comprehensive episodes is heralded as having great potential to enhance quality and reduce cost, thereby increasing the value of the care delivered. This effort builds on the prior experience around delivering care for arthroplasty under the Acute Care Episode Project and offers extensions and opportunities to modify the experience moving forward. ⋯ This fundamental shift in payment for care offers both considerable risk and tremendous opportunity for physicians. Acquiring an understanding of the recent experience and the determinants of future success will best position orthopaedic surgeons to thrive in this new environment. Although this will remain a dynamic exercise for some time, early experience may enhance the chances for long term success, and physicians can rightfully lead the care delivery redesign process.
-
We asked whether femoral nerve blockade (FNB) was an independent risk factor for inpatient post-operative falls after total knee arthroplasty (TKA). Data on 2197 primary TKAs were collected from our institution between 2003 and 2010. Patient demographics, type and duration of blocks were considered predictors of falls in a logistic regression model. ⋯ Single-shot FNB did not increase risk. No fall resulted in operative morbidity. The use of continuous FNB should be cautioned, especially in patients with other risk factors such as obesity and advanced age.
-
The effect of tranexamic acid on blood loss and transfusion rate in primary total knee arthroplasty.
Allogeneic blood transfusions remain common in primary total knee arthroplasty. We reviewed our experience with 2269 consecutive primary total knee arthroplasties in 2069 patients over a 3.5 year period. In our cohort, 1838 received no TXA, 330 received TXA via IV infusion, and 130 had TXA applied topically. ⋯ There were no transfusions (0/130) with topical TXA. Statistical differences were also noted in both immediate post operative and day of discharge hematocrit levels in patients having TXA infusion while those values for patients with TXA irrigation failed to obtain statistical significance. No significant change in the rate of symptomatic deep venous thrombosis or pulmonary embolism was noted.
-
Readmission rates have been cited as an important quality measure in the Affordable Care Act. Accordingly, understanding and accurately tracking the causes for readmission will be increasingly important. We queried an electronic database for all patients who underwent primary THA or TKA at our institution from 2006 through 2010. ⋯ The most common were procedure-related complications. Coded diagnoses frequently did not correlate with the physician-derived diagnoses. The unverified use of coded readmission diagnoses in calculating quality measures may not be clinically relevant.