Revision total hip arthroplasty in the United States: national trends and in-hospital outcomes

With the increasing number of primary total hip arthroplasties (THA) being performed, the frequency of revision surgery is also expected to increase. We analysed the immediate in-hospital complications and epidemiologic data of 3,469 revision and 18,186 primary THA cases. The National Hospital Discharge Survey (NHDS) was evaluated between 2001 and 2010 for patients who underwent revision and primary THA. Patients were identified and included in our retrospective study based on ICD-9 procedure codes. The number of primary and revision THAs increased steadily from 2001 to 2010. The revision burden decreased for the same studied period (r = -0.92) to reach 13.9 % in 2010. The South region had higher revision burden of 17.4 % (p < 0.001). The primary THA group was more likely to be obese, morbidly obese, and have hypertension (p < 0.001). The revision THA group had an increased rate of blood transfusions (p < 0.001), deep venous thrombosis (p = 0.008), post-operative sepsis (p < 0.001), and wound complications (p < 0.001). The in-hospital mortality rate was also higher for the revision THA group (0.6 % versus 0.2 %, p < 0.001). The revision burden has undergone a steady decrease over the ten years studied and the reason for this is likely multifactorial. The South region had a significantly higher revision burden when compared to the rest of the United States. Larger hospitals tend to perform relatively more revisions. Revision THA patients are associated with longer hospital stay, higher complications rate, and higher in-hospital mortality rate.