Knee News

SAN DIEGO — Patients undergoing total joint arthroplasty who were married had quicker recovery and improved outcomes compared with patients who were not married, according to results.

Results showed use of antibiotic-loaded calcium sulfate beads during debridement, antibiotics and implant retention did not reduce the incidence of recurrent prosthetic joint infection at 2 years or 90 days postoperatively.

Contrary to data from prior years, data from 2016 to 2018 shows outpatient unicompartmental knee arthroplasty is independently associated with lower rates of complications compared with inpatient unicompartmental knee arthroplasty.

Although extended oral antibiotic treatment may reduce the rate of recurrent prosthetic joint infection following two-stage exchange, it may also increase drug resistance to the antibiotic used, according to results.

Patients with pulmonary hypertension who undergo primary or revision total knee arthroplasty have increased mortality and complications within 90 days of surgery, according to published results.

The short answer to this question is “yes,” but orthopedic medicine is a complex, multifaceted collection of physicians, ancillary health care staff, hospitals, equipment manufacturers, insurance companies and government stakeholders, to name a few. So the manner in which the transition of orthopedics to a predominantly outpatient surgical subspecialty will impact health care economics is likely to unfold during the next several years.

December 2020 saw CMS finalize a proposal to eliminate the inpatient only list in a 3-year transitional period, which allowed about 300 primarily musculoskeletal-related services to be performed in the hospital outpatient setting.

Results of a study showed aspirin was linked with lower rates of early, deep prosthetic joint infection after primary total knee arthroplasty vs. non-aspirin chemoprophylaxis, a presenter said.

According to published results, alcohol withdrawal syndrome is an independent risk factor for in-hospital mortality, as well as medical and surgical complications, in patients who undergo total hip or knee arthroplasty.

Surgical gloves are a common source of contamination in revision total joint arthroplasty cases; therefore, surgeons should consider intraoperative glove changes and thorough irrigation, according to a speaker.