U.K. Study Finds 1 in 75 Patients Undergo Large Joint Revision
BY LAUREN UZDIENSKI, SEPTEMBER 8, 2008
Data from about 160,000 U.K. patients who received hip or knee replacements between 2003 and 2006 show an overall revision rate of one in 75, or 1.4%. Overall, this rate is low, but it was affected by the type of device implanted.
In the case of hip resurfacing, often praised as as a tissue-preserving procedure that offers younger patients the option of delaying a total hip replacement, had more than twice the revision rate of a traditional THA - 2.6% compared to 1.2%. Similarly, patients receiving a unicondylar knee replacement had a 2.8% revision rate, compared with a 1.4% revision rate for traditional TKAs. These new technologies reach patients earlier in the continuum of care and, with the removal of less bone, allow them to keep surgical options open, but the U.K. data underscore the importance of surgeon training and proper patient selection to ensure positive outcomes.
Interestingly, in an effort to reduce the revision rate and improve outcomes, the study's authors make a recommendation for patient selection that is more rigorous than the criteria typically described, saying, "consideration should be given to using hip resurfacing only in male patients and unicondylar knee replacement only in elderly patients."
