Robotic-assisted THA may be linked with increased costs, risk of periprosthetic fracture
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Key takeaways:
- Robotic-assisted total hip arthroplasty was linked with increased costs and surgical complications compared with conventional THA.
- These results may reveal an area for improvement for robotic-assisted surgery.
Published results showed robotic-assisted total hip arthroplasty was associated with increased total patient charges and risk of surgical complications, such as periprosthetic fractures and transfusions, compared with conventional THA.
Aaron Singh, BA, from the department of orthopedics at UT Health San Antonio, and colleagues performed a retrospective cohort study of data from 1,216,395 patients (mean age, 66 years) who underwent THA between 2016 and 2019. According to the study, 1.51% of patients (n = 18,417) underwent robotic-assisted THA.
Outcomes included all-cause medical complications, such as readmissions, reoperations, discharge disposition and length of stay (LOS), as well as all-cause surgical complications, such as periprosthetic fractures and blood transfusions. Outcomes were assessed at 30 days postoperatively.
Overall, Singh and colleagues found no significant differences in all-cause medical complications, such as readmissions, reoperations, discharge disposition or LOS, between patients who underwent robotic-assisted vs. conventional THA. However, they found robotic-assisted surgery was associated with a significantly increased risk of periprosthetic fracture (OR = 1.63) and blood transfusion (OR = 1.48) compared with conventional THA.
The researchers also found robotic-assisted THA was associated with greater total patient charges (OR = 1.2) compared with conventional THA ($73,410.28 vs. $61,109.47, respectively).
They concluded the increased risk of intraoperative fractures associated with robotic-assisted THA is concerning and may reveal an area for improvement for robotic-assisted surgery.
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