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Nearly 10% of patients found to require early readmission after total elbow arthroplasty

Krenek L. J Hand Surg-Am. 2011. doi: 10.1016/j.jhsa.2010.09.036.

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The results of a database study show a high early complication rate following total elbow arthroplasty.

To find the complication and revision rates after total elbow arthroplasty, Lucie Krenek, MD, and colleagues used California’s Discharge Database to identify 1,625 patients who underwent the procedure during a 5-year period.

The investigators discovered that 170 patients were readmitted to the hospital as inpatients within 90 days of surgery. Of these, 132 patients required reoperation and 81 needed revision procedures. The investigators also found that 88 patients were readmitted to the hospital due to early infection and wound problems. A pulmonary embolism occurred in four patients and 10 patients died within the first 90 days after surgery.

“One-hundred and twenty-one patients required revision, amputation or fusion during the observation period, with a mean follow-up of 4 years,” the investigators wrote. “Hospital volume was not associated with increased risk of adverse outcomes.”