Bleeding and thromboembolism risk of standard antithrombotic prophylaxis after hip or knee replacement within an enhanced recovery program.

INTRODUCTION: Prevention of venous thromboembolism (VTE) generally consists of low molecular weight heparin (LMWH) or direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) after total hip arthroplasty (THA) or total knee arthroplasty (TKA). Enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) protocols may reduce the VTE risk after these procedures. The aim of this study was to compare the risk of VTE and the risk of bleeding complications in a non-selected population of primary THA and TKA cases done within an ERAS protocol. HYPOTHESIS: The risk of postoperative VTE after primary THA and TKA is lower than the risk of bleeding complications within an ERAS protocol. METHODS: This was a prospective observational study conducted on a national scale in France. All patients who underwent primary unilateral THA or TKA at one of 11 participating hospitals between October 2016 and October 2017 were enrolled and followed for 3 months. The occurrence of a VTE or major bleeding event was recorded. No patients were lost to follow-up at 3 months. RESULTS: Of the 1110 THA cases, there were 5 VTE (0.4%) and 19 bleeding events (1.7%). Of the 893 TKA cases, there were 9 VTE (1.0%) and 14 bleeding events (1.7%). There was no significant difference in the VTE incidence and bleeding event incidence after THA and TKA. The overall incidence of bleeding complications (1.7%) was significantly greater than the overall incidence of VTE complications (0.7%) (p=0.005). This was the case after THA (p=0.004) but not after TKA. DISCUSSION: The primary finding of this study is that bleeding complications are significantly more common than VTE complications after THA or TKA within an ERAS protocol. Based on these findings, the cost-benefit ratio of antithrombotic prophylaxis by LMWH or DOACs in this context should be reassessed. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: IV; Prospective cohort study without control group.

Fast track protocol for primary total hip arthroplasty in non-trauma cases reduces the length of hospital stay: Prospective French multicenter study.

BACKGROUND: Fast-track (FT) procedures continue to evolve; however, their benefits are still controversial. This led us to conduct a prospective study of FT procedures for total hip arthroplasty (THA) on a national scale in France with historical control data. The aims were to (1) evaluate the effectiveness of FT procedures after THA on the length of hospital stay (LOS) in a multicenter analysis, (2) measure the immediate return to home, rehospitalization and reoperation rates. HYPOTHESIS: FT procedures reduce the LOS after primary THA for non-traumatic indications relative to national historical data. METHODS: A prospective observational study was done at 11 hospital facilities throughout France. Patients who underwent primary THA for a non-traumatic condition and FT procedures were followed for 3 months. The average LOS, discharge to home, unexpected readmissions, and reoperation rate were compared to 2016 figures from the French national database of 104,745 procedures on the same population. RESULTS: The study included 1,110 patients, 499 men (45%) and 611 women (55%), with a mean age of 67.5±11.9 years. The average LOS was 3.3±2.9 days versus 7.5±5.3 days in the national database (p<0.001). Eight hundred eighty patients (79%) were discharged directly to home versus 72,577 (69%) in the national database (p<0.001). Forty-two patients (4%) were readmitted to the hospital within 90 days of the THA versus 11,092 (11%) in the national database (p<0.001). Eighteen patients (1.6%) were reoperated within 90 days of the THA procedure versus 2100 (2.0%) in the national database (p=0.72). DISCUSSION: FT procedures help to significantly reduce the average LOS and rehospitalization rate after primary THA for non-traumatic conditions and significantly increased the percentage of patients being discharged directly to home relative to national historical data, without altering the risk of reoperation. FT procedures should become the standard of care after THA. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: III; prospective case-control study.

Clinical interest of quantitative bone SPECT-CT in the preoperative assessment of knee osteoarthritis.

The aim of the study was to evaluate the interest of quantitative bone SPECT-CT in the preoperative assessment of knee osteoarthritis (OA) before unicompartmental knee arthroplasty (UKA).Patients eligible for UKA were prospectively included in 2 centers and underwent a preoperative SPECT-CT. Images were reconstructed with an OSEM, an OSCGM (allowing SUV quantification) and an enhanced OSCGM (containing uptakes to bones) algorithms. Visual analysis and quantification (SUVmax) were performed for each compartment (medial compartment [MC], lateral compartment [LC], and patellofemoral compartment [PFC]). Clinical data were preoperatively assessed. The gold standard was the per-operative OA staging (International Cartilage Repair Society [ICRS] scale). Spearman's correlation coefficient was used for correlations. Sensitivity (Se), specificity (Sp), positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV), and accuracy of SPECT-CT were assessed.One hundred three patients (50 women, 53 men, mean age = 64.5 ±â€Š10.3 y/o, 120 preoperative knees) were analyzed. There was no correlation between SUVmax and clinical data. There was a correlation between ICRS staging and SUVmax with both OSCGM (MC [rs = 0.25], LC [rs = 0.51], and PFC [rs = 0.27]), and enhanced OSCGM, except in the PFC (MC [rs = 0.22], LC [rs = 0.62], and PFC [rs = 0.03]). The Se, Sp, PPV, NPV, and accuracy of SPECT-CT were, respectively, 0.99, 0.67, 0.98, 0.80, 0.97 for the MC; 0.50, 0.85, 0.42, 0.89, 0.79 for the LC; and 0.23, 0.86, 0.50, 0.64, 0.62 for the PFC.Bone SPECT-CT SUVmax is correlated with per-operative OA staging. Despite the low sensitivity of SPECT-CT in the LC, its high specificity in the LC should prompt the surgeon to be vigilant before UKA surgery.