Abstract
Introduction
Total joint arthroplasty rates have increased dramatically in recent decades. However, a comprehensive analysis of trends in revision total hip arthroplasty has not been performed recently to address the changing volume, costs, and location of these complex cases. We sought to identify trends in volume of these procedures, geographic distribution changes, and cost trends using a national sample.
Materials and methods
The National Inpatient Sample, a representative sample of all hospital discharges within the United States, was used to determine the volume of revision total hip arthroplasty (THA) from 1993 to 2014. Procedures were identified by ICD-9 codes corresponding to revision THA. Annual incidence of revision THA was compared to annual incidence of primary THA to determine whether relative growth of revisions differed proportionally from the primary procedure. State-specific data was analyzed where available to develop geographic trend maps in the incidence of revision THA procedures using the estimated state population for years under review. Trends were also reviewed for hospital location (urban versus rural; teaching versus non-teaching) and total hospital charges. Analysis of trends was performed using linear regression models.
Results
Volume of revision THA increased slower than primary THA from 1993 to 2014. Revision THA volume increased from 28,429 in 1993 to 48,295 in 2014. However, the relative proportion of revision compared to primary THA during this time period decreased from 21.3% in 1993 to 13.0% in 2014. While revision THA grew significantly at 925 additional procedures per year (p <0.001), the revision/primary proportion declined at a rate of −0.4 percentage points annually (p <0.001). Nationally, only one state demonstrated statewide incidence rate of revision THA >100 / 100,000 residents in 2001, while 31 of 36 states reporting in 2014 demonstrated statewide incidence rate of revision THA >100 / 100,000 residents. Revision THA shifted dramatically away from rural and urban non-teaching hospitals to urban teaching hospitals. In the year 2000, 52.3% of revision THA was performed in urban teaching hospitals, which had increased to 71.2% by 2014. Only 5.2% of revision THA was performed in rural hospitals in 2014. Similarly, hospital charges for revision THA increased significantly from a mean of $32,007 in 2000 to $83,927 in 2014.
Discussion
Dramatic changes in the geographic distribution, hospital type, and cost of revision THA have occurred over the past two decades. The importance of this cannot be overstated, especially within the context of shifting payment models including mandated and voluntary bundles that have been applied to total joint arthroplasty procedures. With the burden of these costly, complex surgical cases falling predominantly on urban teaching hospitals, there must be a mechanism for adequately valuing these procedures to allow surgeons to be able to properly care for these patients.
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