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Background: Periprosthetic joint infection (PJI) remains a dreaded and unpredictable complication after total hip arthroplasty (THA). In addition to causing substantial morbidity, PJI may contribute to long-term mortality risk. Our objective was to determine the long-term mortality risk associated with PJI following THA. Methods: This population-based, retrospective cohort study included adult patients (‡18 years old) in Ontario, Canada, who underwent their first primary elective THA for arthritis between April 1, 2002, and March 31, 2021. The primary outcome was death within 10 years after the index THA. Mortality was compared between propensity-score-matched groups (PJI within 1 year after surgery versus no PJI within 1 year after surgery) with use of survival analyses. Patients who died within 1 year after surgery were excluded to avoid immortal time bias. Results: A total of 175,432 patients (95,883 [54.7%] women) with a mean age (and standard deviation) of 67 ± 11.4 years underwent primary THA during the study period. Of these, 868 patients (0.49%) underwent surgery for a PJI of the replaced joint within 1 year after the index procedure. After matching, patients with a PJI within the first year had a significantly higher 10-year mortality rate than their counterparts (11.4% [94 of 827 patients] versus 2.2% [18 of 827 patients]; absolute risk difference, 9.19% [95% confidence interval (CI), 6.81% to 11.6%]; hazard ratio, 5.49 [95% CI, 3.32 to 9.09]). Conclusions: PJI within 1 year after surgery is associated with over a fivefold increased risk of mortality within 10 years. The findings of this study underscore the importance of prioritizing efforts related to the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of PJIs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Outcomes following total hip arthroplasty (THA) and total knee arthroplasty (TKA) with a short length of hospital stay have been reported; however, most studies have not accounted for an inherent patient selection bias and discharge disposition. The purpose of this study was to utilize a propensity score to match and compare the outcomes of patients undergoing THA or TKA with short and longer lengths of stay with a discharge directly home.Methods: An administrative database from Ontario, Canada, which has a single-payer health-care system, was retrospectively reviewed to identify patients who underwent THA or TKA from 2008 to 2016. Patients were subsequently stratified into 2 groups based on their length of stay: short length of stay (≤2 days; thereafter referred to as short stay) and longer length of stay (>2 days; thereafter referred to as longer stay). Using a propensity score, patients who underwent short-stay THA or TKA were matched to patients who underwent longer-stay THA or TKA. Matching was based on 15 demographic, medical, and surgical factors. Our primary outcomes included postoperative complications, health-care utilization (readmission and emergency department presentation), and health-care costs.Results: Overall, 89,656 TKAs (14,645 short stays and 75,011 longer stays) and 52,610 THAs (9,426 short stays and 43,184 longer stays) were included in this study. Patients who underwent short-stay THA or TKA were significantly more likely (p < 0.05) to be younger, male, healthier, and from a higher socioeconomic status and to have undergone the procedure with a higher-volume surgeon. Over 95% of short-stay cases were successfully matched to longer-stay cases, and we found no significant difference in complications, health-care utilization, and costs between patients on the basis of the length of stay.Conclusions: Patients undergoing short-stay THA or TKA with a discharge home were more likely to be younger, healthy, male patients from a higher socioeconomic status. Higher-volume surgeons are also more likely to perform short-stay THA or TKA. These characteristics confirm the previously held belief that a selection bias exists when comparing cohorts based on time to discharge. When comparing matched cohorts of patients who underwent short-stay and longer-stay THA or TKA, we observed no difference in outcomes, suggesting that a short stay with a discharge home in the appropriately selected patient is safe following THA or TKA.Level Of Evidence: Therapeutic Level IV. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Waiting for hip fracture surgery is associated with complications. The objective of this study was to determine whether waiting for hip fracture surgery is associated with health-care costs.Methods: We conducted a population-based, propensity-matched cohort study of patients treated between 2009 and 2014 in Ontario, Canada. The primary exposure was early hip fracture surgery, performed within 24 hours after arrival at the emergency department. The primary outcome was direct medical costs, estimated for each patient in 2013 Canadian dollars, from the payer perspective. The costs in the early and delayed groups were then compared using a difference-in-differences approach: the baseline cost in the year prior to the hip fracture that had been accrued by patients with early surgery was subtracted from the cost in the first year following the surgery (first difference), and the difference was then compared with the same difference among propensity-score-matched patients who had received delayed surgery (second difference). The secondary outcome was the postoperative length of stay (in days).Results: The study included 42,230 patients who received hip fracture surgery from a total of 522 different surgeons at 72 hospitals. The mean cost (and standard deviation) attributed to the hip fracture was $39,497 ± $46,645 per person. The matched patients who underwent surgery after 24 hours had direct 1-year medical costs that were an average of $2,638 higher (95% confidence interval [CI] = $1,595 to $3,680, p < 0.0001) and a postoperative length of stay that was an average of 0.610 day longer (95% CI = 0.1749 to 1.0331 days, p = 0.0058) compared with those who underwent surgery within 24 hours.Conclusions: Waiting >24 hours for hip fracture surgery was associated with increased medical costs and length of stay. Costs incurred by waiting may provide a financial incentive to mitigate delays in hip fracture surgery.Level Of Evidence: Economic Level III. Please see Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The aims of operative treatment of displaced tibial plateau fractures are to stabilize the injured knee to restore optimal function and to minimize the risk of posttraumatic arthritis and the eventual need for total knee arthroplasty. The purpose of our study was to define the rate of subsequent total knee arthroplasty after tibial plateau fractures in a large cohort and to compare that rate with the rate in the general population. Methods: All patients sixteen years of age or older who had undergone surgical treatment of a tibial plateau fracture from 1996 to 2009 in the province of Ontario, Canada, were identified from administrative health databases with use of surgeon fee codes. Each member of the tibial plateau fracture cohort was matched to four individuals from the general population according to age, sex, income, and urban/rural residence. The rates of total knee arthroplasty at two, five, and ten years were compared by using time-to-event analysis. A separate Cox proportional hazards model was used to explore the influence of patient, provider, and surgical factors on the time to total knee arthroplasty. Results: We identified 8426 patients (48.5% female; median age, 48.9 years) who had undergone fixation of a tibial plateau fracture and matched them to 33,698 controls. The two, five, and ten-year rates of total knee arthroplasty in the plateau fracture and control cohorts were 0.32% versus 0.29%, 5.3% versus 0.82%, and 7.3% versus 1.8%, respectively (p < 0.0001). After adjustment for comorbidity, plateau fracture surgery was found to significantly increase the likelihood of total knee arthroplasty (hazard ratio [HR], 5.29 [95% confidence interval, 4.58, 6.11]; p < 0.0001). Higher rates of total knee arthroplasty were also associated with increasing age (HR, 1.03 [1.03, 1.04] per year over the age of forty-eight; p < 0.0001), bicondylar fracture (HR, 1.53 [1.26, 1.84]; p < 0.0001), and greater comorbidity (HR, 2.17 [1.70, 2.77]; p < 0.001). Conclusions: Ten years after tibial plateau fracture surgery, 7.3% of the patients had had a total knee arthroplasty. This corresponds to a 5.3 times increase in likelihood compared with a matched group from the general population. Older patients and those with more severe fractures are also more likely to need total knee arthroplasty after repair of a tibial plateau fracture. Level of Evidence: Prognostic Level II. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Given single-institution studies showing trends between after-hours hip fracture surgical procedures and adverse outcomes, as well as fixation time targets that may increasingly compel after-hours operations, we investigated the relationship between after-hours hip fracture surgical procedures and adverse outcomes in a large, population-based cohort.Methods: All Ontarians who were ≥60 years of age and underwent a hip fracture surgical procedure between April 2002 and March 2014 were eligible for study inclusion. Data were obtained from linked health administrative databases. The primary exposure was after-hours provision of surgical procedures, occurring weekday evenings between the hours of 5 P.M. and 12 A.M. or over the weekend, but not overnight (after 12 A.M. to 7 A.M.). Surgical complications up to 6 months following a hip fracture surgical procedure comprised the primary outcome. Medical complications, including mortality, up to 90 days postoperatively were also assessed. Odds ratios (ORs) were calculated using a logistic regression model that accounted for clustering at the hospital level and adjusted for patient, provider, and fracture characteristics previously shown to explain the majority of variance in hip fracture outcomes.Results: During the study period, 87,647 patients underwent an isolated hip fracture surgical procedure; 51.2% of these patients had femoral neck fractures, 44.1% had intertrochanteric fractures, and 4.7% had subtrochanteric fractures. The surgical procedure occurred after hours in 59,562 patients (68.0%), and 27,240 patients (31.1%) underwent a surgical procedure during normal hours (7 A.M. to 5 P.M.). Only 845 patients (1%) underwent a surgical procedure overnight. We observed no significant relationships between timing of the surgical procedure and adverse outcomes, except for patients who had undergone an after-hours surgical procedure and had fewer inpatient surgical complications (OR, 0.90 [95% confidence interval, 0.83 to 0.99]; p = 0.01).Conclusions: Adverse outcomes following a hip fracture surgical procedure were similar whether a surgical procedure occurred during normal hours or after hours. Concerns regarding the quality of after-hours surgical procedures should not influence hip fracture prioritization policy. However, given that the great majority of hip fracture surgical procedures occurred after hours, future research should examine other potential consequences of this practice, such as financial impact and surgeon burnout.Level Of Evidence: Therapeutic Level III. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]