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Patients who lived alone and were discharged home had safe, manageable recovery after TJA
After total joint arthroplasty, patients who lived alone had a safe recovery when discharged home, according to results.
Andrew N. Fleischman, MD, and colleagues assessed 90-day complications, unplanned clinical events, functional outcomes, patient satisfaction, pain relief and return to daily function for 769 patients who underwent TJA and were discharged home. Of this group, 138 patients lived alone and 631 patients lived with others.
Results showed an additional night’s stay in the hospital and use of more home health services were more common among patients living alone. Researchers found no increase in complications or unplanned clinical events between patients who lived alone and patients who lived with others. The two groups also had no significant differences in functional outcomes or pain relief. Ninety days after surgery, researchers noted equivalent satisfaction scores between patients who lived alone and patients who lived with others.
“There has been a growing interest in value-based care across orthopedics. While certain costly interventions have withstood based on their assumption of efficacy, it is up to us to identify which services actually improve outcomes and are cost-effective,” Fleischman told Healio.com/Orthopedics.
He added, “Surgeons should help guide patients and use their judgement to come up with a postoperative plan that by themselves and their patients are comfortable and confident in. Managing expectations is key, and patients should be coached to have optimistic expectations. We no longer operate under the ‘sick’ patient model.” – by Casey Tingle
Disclosures: Fleischman reports no relevant financial disclosures. Please see the full study for a list of all other authors’ relevant financial disclosures.