Comparable mortality but higher revision rate after uncemented compared with cemented total hip arthroplasties in patients 80 years and older: report of 43,053 cases of the Dutch Arthroplasty Register

Background and purpose — Mortality and revision risks are important issues during shared decision-making for total hip arthroplasty (THA) especially in elderly patients. We examined mortality and revision rates as well as associated patient and prosthesis factors in primary THA for osteoarthritis (OA) in patients ≥ 80 years in the Netherlands. Patients and methods — We included all primary THAs for OA in patients ≥ 80 years in the period 2007–2019. Patient mortality and prosthesis revision rates were calculated using Kaplan-Meier survival analyses. Risk factors for patient mortality and prosthesis revision were analyzed using multivariable Cox regression analysis adjusted for age, sex, ASA class, fixation method, head size, and approach.Results — Mortality was 0.2% at 7 days, 0.4% at 30 days, 2.7% at 1 year, and 20% at 5 years. Mortality was higher in males and higher ASA class, but did not differ between fixation methods. The 1-year revision rate was 1.6% (95% CI 1.5–1.7) and 2.6% (CI 2.5–2.7) after 5 years. Multivariable Cox regression analysis showed a higher risk of revision for uncemented (hazard ratio [HR] 1.6; CI 1.4–1.8) and reverse hybrid THAs (HR 2.9; CI 2.1–3.8) compared with cemented THAs. Periprosthetic fracture was the most frequently registeredreason for revision in uncemented THAs. Interpretation — Mortality is comparable but revision rate is higher after uncemented compared with cemented THA in patients 80 years and older, indicating that cemented THA might be a safer option in this patient group.

Course of Metal Ions after a Revision of Malfunctioning Metal-on-Metal Total Hip Prostheses

The present research evaluated the course of cobalt and chromium in the blood and urine after the revision of metal-on-metal with a ceramic-on-polyethylene total hip arthroplasty. Seven patients were enrolled for hip prosthesis revision owing to ascertained damage of the implant. Metals in the blood and urine were evaluated before and after the hip revision. The double measurement before the total hip revision revealed high levels of metal ions (on average, 88.1 µg/L of cobalt in the blood, 399.0 µg/g of creatinine cobalt in the urine, 46.8 µg/L of chromium in the blood, and 129.6 µg/g of creatinine chromium in the urine at the first measurements), with an increasing trend between the first and second dosage. Within a week after the hip revision, the levels of metal ions significantly decreased by approximately half. Four to six months after the operation, the cobalt levels were found near to the reference values, whereas the chromium levels reached 25% of the values measured before the revision. The revision of malfunctioning metal-on-metal implants produced a dramatic decrease of metal ions in biological fluids, although it did not completely rescue the chromium level.

The role of knee arthroscopy in managing common soft tissue complications after total knee arthroplasty: a retrospective case series study

Background To investigate the feasibility, safety and therapeutic efficacy of arthroscopy in managing the 3 most common soft tissue complications, peripatellar impingement (PI), arthrofibrosis (AF) and generalized synovitis (GS), after total knee arthroplasty (TKA). Methods A retrospective review of patients undertaking arthroscopy for PI, AF and GS was conducted. Outcome measures included complications, postoperative range of motion (ROM), Knee Society Score (KSS) and rates of symptom recurrence, prosthesis revision. Intraoperative findings and surgical procedures were also recorded. Paired t test, Fisher’s exact test, Kruskal-Wallis test and post hoc analysis with Bonferroni correction were used for statistical evaluation. Results A total of 74 patients, including 35 patients with peripatellar impingement, 25 patients with arthrofibrosis and 14 patients with generalized synovitis, with a mean age of 66.1 ± 7.9 years, were analysed. The mean follow-up (FU) duration was 81.3 ± 40.6 months. All patients underwent arthroscopic surgery safely without intraoperative complications. However, there were 4 postoperative complications, including 1 acute myocardial infarction and 3 periprosthetic joint infections. Overall, patients acquired improvements in ROM from 81.7 ± 23.1° to 96.8 ± 20.5° (p < 0.05), in KSS knee score from 64.2 ± 9.6 to 78.7 ± 12.1 (p < 0.05) and in KSS function score from 61.1 ± 7.4 to 77.3 ± 12.2 (p < 0.05) postoperatively. Patients in all 3 groups had improvements in ROM (p < 0.05), KSS knee score (p < 0.05) and KSS function score (p < 0.05). The overall recurrence rate was 22.9% (95% confidence interval (CI) 15.1–34.9%), and the overall revision rate was 14.9% (95% CI 8.6–25.6%). There were significant differences in both the symptom recurrence and prosthesis revision rates among the groups (p < 0.05). The PI group had a significantly lower symptom recurrence rate (11.4%, 95% CI 4.5–28.7%) and revision rate (8.6%, 95% CI 2.9–25.3%) (p < 0.017), while the GS group had a significantly higher recurrence rate (42.9%, 95% CI 23.4–78.5%) and revision rate (35.7%, 95% CI 17.6–72.1%) (p < 0.017). Conclusions In the setting of symptomatic TKA, although carrying certain risks for PJI and other complications, arthroscopic intervention could be feasible and provide clinical improvement in most cases at an average of 81.3 months follow-up. Patients with PI had the best outcomes, while patients with GS had the worst outcomes. Level of evidence Level IV

Antibiotic therapy alone does not have a high success rate in cases of unexpected positive cultures in intraoperative samples from hip and knee prosthesis revision

Background Unexpectedly positive bacterial cultures during prosthesis revision surgery still occur on occasion despite good preoperative diagnostics. In such cases a six-week antibiotic therapy without further surgical intervention is recommended. The aim of this study was to find out how successful this procedure is. Methods In a study of 508 patients, who required revision surgery of total hip (THA, n = 231) or knee arthroplasties (TKA, n = 277) because of component loosening, biopsy was carried out before their surgery. The collected tissue samples (5) from the biopsy and the revision surgery procedure itself were analyzed according the criteria of the International Consensus Meeting (ICM). Tests revealed 11 patients (7 THA, 4 TKA) with unexpectedly positive bacterial cultures from tissue samples obtained during the revision surgery due to false negative preoperative diagnostic results. These 11 patients were treated with 6 weeks antibiotic therapy and examined with a follow-up of at least 2 years (42.2 ± 16.5 months). Results Five patients (2 TKA, 3 THA) became reinfected, resulting in a success rate of 54.5%. Conclusion Antibiotic therapy alone of an unexpected positive intraoperative bacterial culture in prosthesis revision surgery seems to be less successful than previously assumed.

The role of knee arthroscopy in managing common soft-tissue complications after total knee arthroplasty: a retrospective case series study.

Background: To investigate the feasibility, safety and therapeutic efficacy of arthroscopy in managing the 3 most common soft-tissue complications, peripatellar impingement (PI), arthrofibrosis (AF) and generalized synovitis (GS), after total knee arthroplasty (TKA). Methods: A retrospective review of patients undertaking arthroscopy for PI, AF and GS was conducted. Outcome measures included complications, postoperative range of motion (ROM), Knee Society Score (KSS), and rates of symptom recurrence, prosthesis revision. Intraoperative findings and surgical procedures were also recorded. Paired t test, Fisher’s exact test, Kruskal-Wallis test and post hoc analysis with Bonferroni correction were used for statistical evaluation.Results: A total of 74 patients, including 35 patients with peripatellar impingement, 25 patients with arthrofibrosis and 14 patients with generalized synovitis, with a mean age of 66.1±7.9 years, were analysed. The mean follow-up (FU) duration was 81.3±40.6 months. All patients underwent arthroscopic surgery safely without intraoperative complications. However, there were 4 postoperative complications, including 1 acute myocardial infarction and 3 periprosthetic joint infections. Overall, patients acquired improvements in ROM from 81.7±23.1° to 96.8±20.5° (p <0.05), in KSS knee score from 64.2±9.6 to 78.7±12.1 (p <0.05), and in KSS function score from 61.1±7.4 to 77.3±12.2 (p <0.05) postoperatively. Patients in all 3 groups had improvements in ROM (p <0.05), KSS knee score (p <0.05) and KSS function score (p <0.05). The overall recurrence rate was 22.9% (95% confidence interval (CI) 15.1%-34.9%), and the overall revision rate was 14.9% (95% CI 8.6%-25.6%). There were significant differences in both the symptom recurrence and prosthesis revision rates among the groups (p<0.05). The PI group had a significantly lower symptom recurrence rate (11.4%, 95% CI 4.5%-28.7%) and revision rate (8.6%, 95% CI 2.9%-25.3%) (p <0.017), while the GS group had a significantly higher recurrence rate (42.9%, 95% CI 23.4%-78.5%) and revision rate (35.7%, 95% CI 17.6%-72.1%) (p <0.017). Conclusions: In the setting of symptomatic TKA, although carrying certain risks for PJI and other complications, arthroscopic intervention could be feasible and provide clinical improvement in most cases at an average of 81.3 months follow-up. Patients with PI had the best outcomes, while patients with GS had the worst outcomes.Level of evidence: Level IV