By Casey Tingle
Recently published results demonstrate risk-adjusted prolonged length of stay was an inadequate measure of surgical safety among patients who underwent total hip or knee arthroplasty.
Researchers analyzed coded complications and prolonged length of stay among 5,967 patients who underwent total knee arthroplasty (TKA) and 4,518 patients who underwent total hip arthroplasty (THA) and were discharged between January 2009 and December 2011.
Among 727 patients who experienced prolonged length of stay, results showed 170 patients experienced complications. This yielded a sensitivity of 41.4% with a positive predictive value of 23.4%, according to results.