A Higher Altitude Is Associated with Increased Incidence of Infections following Primary Total Hip Arthroplasty

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether patients undergoing primary total hip arthroplasty (THA) at a higher elevation have higher rates of: 1) in-hospital length of stay (LOS); 2) surgical site infections (SSIs); 3) periprosthetic joint infections (PJIs); and 4) costs. Materials...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Hip & pelvis 2021-12, Vol.33 (4), p.219
Main Authors: Nabil Z. Khan, Stefan N. Hamaway, Miriam D. Weisberg, Andrew R. Horn, Rushabh M. Vakharia, Afshin E. Razi
Format: Article
Language:Korean
Subjects:
Altitude
Costs
Medicare
Total hip arthroplasty
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Summary:Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether patients undergoing primary total hip arthroplasty (THA) at a higher elevation have higher rates of: 1) in-hospital length of stay (LOS); 2) surgical site infections (SSIs); 3) periprosthetic joint infections (PJIs); and 4) costs. Materials and Methods: The Medicare claims database was used to identify patients who underwent primary THA at an altitude higher than 4,000 feet (ft). High-altitude patients were matched to patients who underwent primary THA at an altitude less than 100 ft, yielding 24,958 and 124,765 patients respectively. Outcomes that were assessed included in-hospital LOS, SSIs, PJIs, and costs of care. A P-value less than 0.001 was considered statistically significant. Results: Patients in the study group had significantly longer in-hospital LOS (4 days vs 3 days, P
ISSN:2287-3260