Comparable longitudinal health care costs seen at 10 years for TKA, UKA
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
Up to 10 years postoperatively, patients who undergo unicompartmental knee arthroplasty have lower average related health care costs than patients who undergo total knee arthroplasty, according to presented results.
In addition, the research, which was presented at the American Association of Hip and Knee Surgeons Annual Meeting, showed the costs for both procedures are comparable after 10 years, and this finding was despite the fact higher revision rates were seen with unicompartmental knee arthroplasty (UKA).
“UKA has a lower risk of perioperative complications and it also associated with a higher risk of revision. UKA had lower costs than TKA at all time points studied up to 10 years, at which point costs are comparable. Further efforts to reduce the risk of revision will greatly reduce longitudinal health care costs, particularly for UKA,” Robert A. Burnett, MD, said.
Burnett presented results of a retrospective cohort study of the costs of UKA compared with TKA during a 10-year period.
Burnett and colleagues used the Humana claims database and CPT codes to compare outcomes, revision rates and longitudinal health care costs for patients who underwent UKA or TKA from 2007 to 2016. Overall, 2,383 patients who had UKA were matched 1:1 sequentially with a cohort of primary TKA patients based on demographics and comorbidities. Patients were followed 1 year postoperatively. Researchers recorded revision rates and total related health care claims costs per patient for 10 years after surgery.
Burnett said results showed TKA was associated with higher rates of medical and surgical complications 1 year postoperatively. Patients in the TKA group had higher rates of arthrofibrosis that required manipulation, deep vein thrombosis, renal failure and pulmonary embolism.
Revision rates were higher for UKA at all time points studied, he said. Results showed a 6% revision rate for patients in the UKA group at 5 years compared with 4.2% for patients in the TKA group. At 10 years, UKA patients had a 6.5% revision rate compared with 4.4% for TKA patients. Revisions greatly affected the costs of both groups, Burnett said, but both revised and unrevised UKA had lower costs on average.
Burnett said longitudinal-related health care costs for patients who had TKA was greater at 1 and 5 years compared with patients who had UKA. Average costs at 10 years were comparable for both groups.
Collapse
Burnett RA, et al. Paper 1. Presented at: American Association of Hip and Knee Surgeons Annual Meeting; Nov. 5-8, 2020; Dallas (hybrid meeting).
Read more about
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts