Preoperative Patient Related Factors and TAR Outcomes

Some patients report poor health-related quality of life after undergoing total hip arthroplasty (THA). Gustafsson et al. conducted a study to determine which factors, at the time of initial diagnosis, were associated with poorer outcomes following THA. The study found that older age, Charley Class C, and depression were risk factors that were linked to poorer results in patients who received first-line interventions for osteoarthritis.

How about TAR?

Wilson et al. conducted a retrospective cohort study using the Nationwide Readmission Database and included 8047 patients who underwent total ankle replacement (TAR). Of these patients, 11.4% (918) had depression. The study found that patients with depression had higher odds of non-home discharge, extended length of stay, prosthetic and wound complications, prosthetic joint infections, superficial surgical site infection, and medical complications compared to patients without depression.

Take-home point

Depression is a common occurrence in patients who undergo major joint arthroplasty, and it is associated with increased health care utilization and post-surgery complications.