Temporal Trends in Length of Stay and Readmissions After Fast-Track Hip and Knee Arthroplasty

DANISH MEDICAL JOURNAL Temporal trends in length of stay and readmissions after fast-track hip and knee arthroplasty Pelle Baggesgaard Petersen1, *, Christoffer Calov Jørgensen1, 2, * & Henrik Kehlet1, 2, * , on behalf of the Lundbeck Foundation Centre for Fast-track Hip and Knee collaborative group* ABSTRACT for Fast-Track Hip and Knee replacement (FTHK) was INTRODUCTION: Implementation of fast-track protocols in established to study and improve clinical outcomes of ORIGINAL ARTICLE total hip and knee arthroplasty (THA/TKA) has dramatically THA and TKA in a Danish collaborative multicentre re- 1) Section for Surgical changed the perioperative care, leading to a subsequent search environment. However, no data on the temporal Pathophysiology, Rigshospitalet reduction in post-operative length of stay (LOS) and mor- trends of LOS and readmissions from the FTHK collab- 2) Lundbeck Foundation bidity. Previous investigations in Denmark have shown a oration are available. Centre for Fast-track reduction in LOS from about ten days in 2000 to four days in We aimed to describe temporal changes in LOS and Hip and Knee 2009. We aimed to describe temporal changes in LOS and readmissions within the context of a continuous multi- Arthroplasty, Denmark readmissions within the context of a continuous multicentre centre collaboration focusing on enhancing recovery collaboration focusing on enhancing recovery and reducing Dan Med J and reducing morbidity after fast-track THA and TKA. morbidity after fast-track THA and TKA. 2019;66(7):A5553 METHODS: We used an observational cohort design from METHODS nine Danish orthopaedic centres. All procedures were We used an observational cohort design based on pro- performed from January 2010 to August 2017. Data on LOS cedures from the Lundbeck Foundation Centre for Fast- and 90-day readmissions were obtained from The Danish track Hip and Knee Replacement database (LCDB) [3]. National Patient Registry. Cause of readmission and We included consecutive primary elective THA and possible association with surgery were investigated using discharge summaries or health records. TKAs in Danish citizens > 18 years performed from 11 RESULTS: We included 36,608 procedures with a median Jan 2010 to 1 Aug 2017. The exclusion criteria were age of 69 (Interquartile range (IQR): 62-75) years of whom patients with non-elective procedures, simultaneous 58% were women. LOS decreased from a median of three bilateral procedures, additional major arthroplasty (IQR: 2-3) days in 2010 to one (IQR: 1-2) days in 2017. The within 90 days; and surgery due to congenital dis- proportion of patients with LOS > 4 days decreased from orders, infections or cancer. Additionally, patients with 9.6% to 4.4%. Still, 90-day readmissions remained stable missing preoperative questionnaires in the LCDB were throughout the period at ≈ 8%. excluded from the analysis (Figure 1). CONCLUSIONS: A reduction in both LOS and proportion of The LCDB originally consisted of six departments patients with prolonged LOS without an increase in with an additional three departments joining in 2012, readmission is possible within a multicentre collaboration 2013, and 2014, respectively. All nine departments aiming at enhancing recovery and reducing morbidity. used similar fast-track protocols including, but not lim- FUNDING: The study was supported by an unconditional ited to, regional anaesthesia, multimodal opioid spar- PhD grant from Lundbeckfonden to PBP (R230-2017-166). ing analgesia, in-hospital only thromboprophylaxis if TRIAL REGISTRATION: The study was registered with LOS ≤ 5 days, early mobilisation and discharge to own ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT01515670). home based on functional discharge criteria [3, 4]. Data collection Data on LOS (number of post-operative nights in hos- With the introduction of “enhanced recovery” or “fast- pital, including transferals to other departments and track” protocols in total hip and knee arthroplasty hospitals), 90-day readmissions (≥ 1 overnight stay (THA/TKA) that embrace an evidence-based multi- and potentially related to the index procedure) and modal and multi-disciplinary approach to improving mortality were obtained from the Danish National Pa- care and consequently patient outcomes [1], the me- tient Registry (DNPR) to which reporting is mandatory dian length of hospital stay (LOS) in Denmark de- for all hospitals in Denmark [5]. In patients with pro- creased from about ten days in 2000 to four days in longed LOS (defined as > 4 post-operative nights in 2009 [2]. In 2009, The Lundbeck Foundation Centre hospital), readmission or mortality within 90 days, dis- Dan Med J 66/7 July 2019 1 DANISH MEDICAL JOURNAL charge summaries were evaluated for causes of mor- carried out using SPSS v.22 (IBM Corp, Armonk, NY, bidity and possible relation to the index procedure. USA). Only readmissions unlikely to be related to the index procedures were excluded, e.g., eye surgery, other Ethics planned elective surgical procedures and cancer treat- The non-interventional nature of the study waived the ment. need for ethical approval. However, permission to col- From Jan 2010 to Sep 2013, discharge summaries lect and store data was obtained from the Danish Pa- were primarily analysed by CCJ; and from Oct 2013 to tient Safety Authority (3-3013-56/2/EMJO) and the Aug 2017, the primary investigation was conducted by Danish Data Protection Agency (RH-2017-132), re- PBP, supervised by CCJ. In both periods, cases of doubt spectively. Additionally, the LCDB is registered with were discussed with HK to obtain agreement on cause ClinicalTrials.Gov (NCT01515670) as an ongoing reg- and possible relation to arthroplasty. istry study on post-operative morbidity and mortality Primary outcomes were temporal trends of LOS, following fast-track THA/TKA. proportion with LOS > 4 days and 90-day readmission rates. Trial registration: The study was registered with ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT01515670). Statistics Data are analysed and presented as means (± standard RESULTS deviation (SD)) for continuous data, median (inter- We included 36,608 procedures in 32,247 patients. quartile range (IQR)) for nonparametric, and number Of all procedures, 16,812 (46%) were TKA and 19,791 (%) for categorical data. Assessment of normality was (54%) THA. The median age was 69 (IQR: 62-75) based on histograms and q-q plots. Statistical work was years and 58% were women. LOS decreased from a median of three (IQR: 2-3) days in 2010 to one (IQR: 1-2) day in 2017. Mean LOS decreased from 3.0 (SD: ± 2.4) to 1.9 (SD: ± 1.6) days. Importantly, there was a de- FIGURE 1 crease in the proportion of patients hospitalised > 4 Flow of patients. days from 9.6% in 2010 to 4.4% in 2017 (Figure 2). The rate of 90-day readmissions with potential relation Total procedures in the DNPR to the index procedure remained similar throughout Jan 2010-Aug 2017 (N = 41,292) the study period at about 8% (Figure 3). Fractures, non-elective procedures or previous surgery DISCUSSION on the same joint within 90 days The results from this multicentre collaboration with a (n = 2,319) focus on potential continuous improvements in perioperative care of fast-track THA and TKA showed a steady Severe congenital disorders, infection or cancer decrease in LOS and fewer patients with a need for pro- (n = 172) longed LOS. Importantly, the early perioperative im- Simultaneous or staged bilateral procedures within 90 days (n= 816) provements were not followed by an increase in 90-day readmission. The data suggest that a continued focus on improving perioperative care through multicentre Other, e.g. non-Danish citizens and no standard fast-track procedures collaboration with annual presentation of outcome (n = 41) data and discussions on the implementation of recent scientific evidence may contribute to further reductions Primary elective unilateral THA/TKA in LOS through improved care and reduced early post- in the DNPR operative morbidity. It should be noted that a similar (n = 37,944) improvement has occurred in Denmark in areas not covered by the collaboration. In this context, the avail- Procedures not in the Lundbeck Centre Database ability of discharge notes and health records is crucial (n = 1,336 (3.5%)) for generating detailed clinical outcome data [6], which may provide further insights than data based Procedures with completed preoperative questionnaire solely on administrative databases and diagnostic cod- (n = 36,608 (96.5%)) ing. Additionally, the positive effect on LOS within DNPR = Danish National Patient Registry THA = total hip arthroplasty; TKA = total knee well-documented and well-structured fast-track/en- arthroplasty. hanced recovery units has previously been shown in the United Kingdom [7] and Sweden [8], but not to the 2 Dan Med J 66/7 July 2019 DANISH MEDICAL JOURNAL logical treatment, fall risk, perioperative anaemia, hip FIGURE 2 dislocation, intraoperative fractures, wound and deep Length of stay (LOS) (mean: ; median: …) and percentage with infections, pain management, rehabilitation, etc. [12]) LOS above four days ( ), 2010-2017. may lead to further improvements [11]. These im- LOS, days > 4 days, % provements may be achieved by identification of those 5.0 10 patients who may benefit from increased post-opera- 4.5 9 tive focus on, e.g., medical management of chronic ill- ness and potentially at the expense of one or two more 4.0 8 days in hospital [11]. 3.5 7 On the other hand, it is reassuring that there was no 3.0 6 increase in readmissions either, suggesting that the reduction in LOS has not come at the cost of increased 2.5 5 complications after discharge. 2.0 4 The present study is limited by some methodo- 1.5 3 logical concerns. Identification of LOS and readmission 1.0 2 from the DNPR [5], which is an administrative database, brings a risk of coding errors. However, the 0.5 1 strength of our study was the use of discharge summa- 0.0 0 ries and health records rather than diagnostic coding to 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 identify readmissions potentially related to index procedure.

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