Direct Anterior Approach in Total Hip Arthroplasty: A Single Center Experience.

Purpose: The direct anterior approach (DAA) for conducting total hip arthroplasty (THA) is gaining popularity worldwide. However, careful selection of patients and surgeon experience are important. Although promising outcomes have been reported in international studies, research on DAA in Southern and Southeast Asia has been limited. Materials and Methods: This prospective study included 157 patients who underwent THA using the DAA between January 2019 and June 2022. The patients were divided into three groups for the comparison. Data on preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative variables were acquired. Improvement of the surgeon's performance to use of a DAA approach was examined using the CUSUM (cumulative summation method). Results: The mean age of the patients was 43.9 years. Differences in intraoperative variables and complications were observed among the three groups, and improved outcomes were reported in later cases. Functional outcomes showed significant improvement, and no differences were observed between groups. The results of learning curve analysis indicated a shift towards consistent success after the 82nd case, reaching an acceptable rate of failure by the 118th case. Conclusion: The findings of this study suggest that DAA can offer benefits but there is a learning curve. Complications were initially high but began decreasing after approximately 80 cases. Careful selection of patients is critical, particularly in the effort to minimize being presented with a challenging case. This study provides insights that may be helpful to surgeons when considering DAA; however, further study is warranted.

Pre-operative Anemia and Hyponatremia Increase the Risk of Mortality in Elderly Hip Fractures.

Objectives: Pre-operative assessment is routinely performed for all hip fractures, and include a thorough clinical examination and multiple pre-operative tests. While abnormalities are often detected in many tests, they have varied effect on mortality. The purpose of the study was to assess the prevalence and impact of these abnormal tests and comorbidities. Methods: This was a prospective study of 283 consecutive hip fracture patients aged above 50 years admitted in a major trauma hospital from February 2019 to December 2019. The prevalence of abnormalities in the following tests were assessed: chest x-ray, electrocardiogram, complete blood count, serum electrolytes, renal function test, prothrombin time/international normalized ratio, and serum bilirubin. Also, presence of comorbidities were recorded. Mortality within 90 days of admission was assessed. Results: 91.5% (N= 259/283) of the patients had at least one abnormal investigation. The most common abnormal investigation was anemia (70.3%, N= 199/283), followed by deranged sodium (36.4%, N= 103/283). 17.7% (N= 50/283) of the patients had at least one new comorbidity diagnosed after admission. The most common newly diagnosed comorbidity was hypertension (10.6%, N= 30/283). Anemia (p=0.044), deranged sodium (p=0.002), raised urea (p=0.018), raised creatinine (p=0.002), renal disease (p=0.015), neurological diseases (p=0.024), and charlson comorbidity index (p=0.004) were associated with increased mortality in multivariate analysis. Conclusion: Pre-operative hemoglobin, sodium, urea, and creatinine were the most important tests influencing mortality, and derangements of these should therefore be carefully evaluated and managed. Hip fracture care pathways should focus on correction of these abnormalities.

The Impact of Surgical Timing of Hip Fracture on Mortality: Do the Cause and Duration of Delay Matter?

Purpose: Delay in performance of hip fracture surgery can be caused by medical and/or administrative reasons. Although early surgery is recommended, it is unclear what constitutes a delayed surgery and whether the impact of delayed surgery can differ depending on the reason for the delay. Materials and Methods: A total of 269 consecutive hip fracture patients over 50 years of age who underwent surgery were prospectively enrolled. They were divided into two groups: early and delayed (time from reaching the hospital to surgery less than or more than 48 hours). Patients were also categorized as fit or unfit based on anesthetic fitness. One-year mortality was recorded, and regression analyses were performed to assess the impact of delay on mortality. Results: A total of 153 patients (56.9%) had delayed surgery with a mean time to surgery of 87±70 hours. A total of 115 patients (42.8%) were considered medically fit to undergo surgery. No difference in one-year mortality was observed between patients with early surgery and those with delayed surgery (P=0.854). However, when assessment of the time to surgery was performed in a continuous manner, mortality increased with prolonged time to surgery, particularly in unfit patients, and higher mortality was observed when the delay exceeded six days (fit: P=0.117; unfit: P=0.035). Conclusion: The effect of delay on mortality was predominantly observed in patients who were not considered medically fit, suggesting that surgical delays might have a greater impact on patients with medical reasons for delay.

Excess mortality in elderly hip fracture patients: An Indian experience.

PURPOSE: Hip fractures in elderly have a high mortality. However, there is limited literature on the excess mortality seen in hip fractures compared to the normal population. The purpose of this study was to compare the mortality of hip fractures with that of age and gender matched Indian population. METHODS: There are 283 patients with hip fractures aged above 50 years admitted at single centre prospectively enrolled in this study. Patients were followed up for 1 year and the follow-up record was available for 279 patients. Mortality was assessed during the follow-up from chart review and/or by telephonic interview. One-year mortality of Indian population was obtained from public databases. Standardized mortality ratio (SMR) (observed mortality divided by expected mortality) was calculated. Kaplan-Meir analysis was used. RESULTS: The overall 1-year mortality was 19.0% (53/279). Mortality increased with age (p < 0.001) and the highest mortality was seen in those above 80 years (aged 50 - 59 years: 5.0%, aged 60 - 69 years: 19.7%, aged 70 - 79 years: 15.8%, and aged over 80 years: 33.3%). Expected mortality of Indian population of similar age and gender profile was 3.7%, giving a SMR of 5.5. SMR for different age quintiles were: 3.9 (aged 50 - 59 years), 6.6 (aged 60 - 69 years), 2.2 (aged 70 - 79 years); and 2.0 (aged over 80 years). SMR in males and females were 5.7 and 5.3, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Indian patients sustaining hip fractures were about 5 times more likely to die than the general population. Although mortality rates increased with age, the highest excess mortality was seen in relatively younger patients. Hip fracture mortality was even higher than that of myocardial infarction, breast cancer, and cervical cancer.

Accuracy of Time to Treatment Initiation Data in Musculoskeletal Soft Tissue Sarcoma.

Background: Time to treatment initiation (TTI) is a quality metric in cancer care. The purpose of this study is to determine the accuracy of TTI data from a single cancer center registry that reports to the National Cancer Database (NCDB) for sarcoma diagnoses. Methods: A retrospective analysis of a single Commission on Cancer (CoC)-accredited cancer center's tumor registry between 2006 and 2016 identified 402 patients who underwent treatment of a musculoskeletal soft tissue sarcoma and had TTI data available. Registry-reported TTI was extracted from the tumor registry. Effective TTI was manually calculated by medical record review as the number of days from the date of tissue diagnosis to initiation of first effective treatment. Effective treatment was defined as oncologic surgical excision or initiation of radiation therapy or chemotherapy. Registry-reported TTI and effective TTI values were compared for concordance in all patients. Results: In the entire cohort, 25% (99/402) of patients had TTI data discordance, all related to surgical treatment definition. For patients with a registry-reported value of TTI = 0 days, 74% (87/118) had a diagnostic surgical procedure coded as their first treatment event, with 73 unplanned incomplete excision procedures and 14 incisional biopsies. In these patients, effective TTI was on average 59 days (P < 0.001). For patients with a registry-reported value of TTI >0 days, only 4% (12/284) had discordant TTI values. Conclusions: Nearly three-fourths of patients with a registry-reported value of TTI = 0 days in a large, CoC-accredited cancer center registry had a diagnostic procedure coded as their first treatment event, though their effective treatment had not yet started. These data suggest that TTI is likely longer than what is reported to the NCDB. Redefinition of what constitutes surgical treatment should be considered to improve the accuracy of data used in measuring TTI in sarcoma.

Non-operative treatment for low back pain: A review of evidence and recommendations.

Background Low back pain (LBP) is a healthcare problem with high global prevalence, with non-operative management being the first line of treatment in the majority of patients. This literature review summarizes the current evidence for various modalities of non-operative treatment for LBP. Methods We did a literature search to elicit high-quality evidence for non-operative treatment modalities for LBP, including Cochrane Database reviews and systematic reviews or meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Only when these were not available for a particular treatment modality, other level 1 studies were included. The quality of evidence was categorized in accordance with the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluations (GRADE) method-a globally adopted tool for grading the quality of evidence and making treatment recommendations. Results The treatment modalities that were reviewed included: general measures, medications/pharmacotherapy, exercises, electromagnetic therapies, alternative treatment modalities and interventional therapies. We found that high-quality evidence is lacking for most non-operative treatment modalities for LBP. The majority of interventions have small benefits or are similar to placebo. Conclusion The current evidence for non-operative treatment modalities for LBP is insufficient to draw conclusions or make recommendations to clinicians. High-quality trials are required before widespread use of any treatment modality. Considering that non-operative treatment is usually the first line of therapy for most patients with LBP, it deserves to be the focus of future research in spinal disorders.

Uneven global and racial representation in major orthopaedic clinical trials: Trends over a decade.

Background: The presence of geographic and demographic disparities in randomized controlled trials (RCTs) may affect the external validity of trials. While some studies have addressed racial or ethnic disparities, they have been limited to a certain region, and there is limited information about the global representation in orthopaedic research. Methods: RCTs published in major medical and orthopaedic journals from 2010 to 2019 were identified. After screening 6961 articles, 1769 trials enrolling 323,506 patients were included. The details of individual trials such as the country of origin, the proportion of women, and the proportion of different racial groups were recorded. Factors associated with reporting and representation of specific demographic groups, and annual changes were assessed. Results: Majority of the trials were from were from United States (US) (N = 380, 21.5%). US (30.7%, N = 99,356), United Kingdom (15.7%, N = 50,691) and Canada (8.3%, N = 26,890) accounted for majority of the enrolled patients. 59.1% of the patients were women. Among US trials reporting race, 81.2% were White, and 9.9% were African American. There was no significant variation in the global distribution (p = 0.056), percentage of women (p = 0.811), or percentage of Whites (p = 0.389) over the years. Conclusion: The top three countries contributed to about 55% of the enrolled patients, whereas they contributed to only 6% of the world population. Overall, women appeared to be adequately represented in the trials, while racial minorities were underrepresented. There has not been any considerable improvement in the representation of developing regions or minorities over the last decade.

Injury Mechanisms of Hip Fractures in India.

PURPOSE: Hip fractures are a major cause of morbidity and mortality in the elderly; however, the current literature on the injury patterns of hip fractures in India is lacking. Understanding the injury profile of these patients is important to develop targeted interventions to prevent hip fractures. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a prospective study of all hip fracture patients aged 50 years or older admitted from February 2019 to December 2019. Details about the injury were recorded by an in-person interview. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to identify the factors associated with any particular injury mechanism. RESULTS: Two hundred and eighty-three hip fractures were included. The mechanism of injury for the majority of patients was a fall from a standing height (n=217, 76.7%) while 60 patients (21.2%) were injured as the result of a road traffic accident (RTA). Slipping on a wet floor (n=49, 22.6%) and change in posture (n=35, 16.1%) were the most commonly reported reasons for falling. Pedestrian injuries were the most common form of RTA (n=29, 48.3%). Increasing age (P<0.001) and female sex (P=0.001) were associated with fall as the mode of injury while sustaining another fracture in addition to hip fracture (P=0.032) was associated with RTA as the mode of injury. CONCLUSION: A fall from standing height is the predominant mode of injury among elderly hip fractures especially among women. Environmental hazards and postural changes are responsible for the majority of falls while pedestrian accidents contribute to a majority of the RTAs.

When Total Joint Arthroplasty After Septic Arthritis Can Be Safely Performed.

BACKGROUND: Patients undergoing total joint arthroplasty (TJA) following septic arthritis are at higher risk for developing periprosthetic joint infection (PJI). Minimal literature is available to guide surgeons on the optimal timing of TJA after completing treatment for prior native joint septic arthritis. This multicenter study aimed to determine the optimal timing of TJA after prior septic arthritis and to examine the role of preoperative serology in predicting patients at risk for developing PJI. METHODS: A total of 207 TJAs were performed after prior septic arthritis from 2000 to 2017 at 5 institutions. Laboratory values, prior treatment, time from the initial infection, and other variables were recorded. Bivariate analyses were performed to identify the association between the time from septic arthritis to TJA and the risk of developing subsequent PJI. A subanalysis was performed between patients who underwent TJA in 1 setting (n = 97) compared with those who underwent 2-stage arthroplasties (n = 110). Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was performed for serum markers prior to TJA in predicting the risk of a subsequent PJI. RESULTS: The overall PJI rate was 12.1%. Increasing time from septic arthritis treatment to TJA was not associated with a reduction of PJI, whether considering time as a continuous or categorical variable, for both surgical treatment cohorts (all p > 0.05). Although the ROC curve analysis found that the optimal threshold for timing of TJA from the initial treatment was 5.9 months, there was no difference in the PJI rate when the overall cohort was dichotomized by this threshold and when stratified by 1-stage compared with 2-stage TJA. There was no significant difference in erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and C-reactive protein (CRP) level prior to conversion TJA between patients who subsequently developed PJI and those who did not. CONCLUSIONS: Serum markers have limited value in predicting subsequent PJI in patients who undergo TJA after prior septic arthritis. There was no optimal interim period between septic arthritis treatment and subsequent TJA; thus, delaying a surgical procedure does not appear to reduce the risk of PJI. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Prognostic Level III. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.

Megaprosthesis Versus Allograft Prosthesis Composite for the Management of Massive Skeletal Defects: A Meta-Analysis of Comparative Studies.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Megaprosthesis and Allograft Prosthesis Composite (APC) are the established treatment modalities for massive skeletal defects. There are a handful of studies comparing the use of megaprosthesis and APC in the management of substantial bone loss and it has always been a topic of debate regarding the superiority of one modality over the other. Therefore, we aim to compare the functional outcome and implant survivorship of each modality including complications, revision rates, amputation rate and mortality. RECENT FINDINGS: The Allograft Prosthesis Composite (APC) constitutes a skeletal allograft implanted with a revision type prosthesis in it. The biological environment provided by the allograft allows attachment of the muscles and tendons imparting better stability and function. However, the literature is not kind enough with APC due to associated risk of infection, disease transmission and nonunion at the graft-host junction. The megaprosthesis (MP) on the other hand is a nonbiologic modality with better survivorship but subservient functional outcome. Infection has been a major issue in both the modalities. Advancement in metallurgy using silver coated megaprosthesis also failed to provide strong evidence in preventing infection. The functional outcome is better with APC in both the upper and lower limbs. However, the survivorship is better with megaprosthesis, especially in the upper limb when revision rates were compared between the two modalities. Deep infection and mechanical complications were significantly higher in the APC group. There was no significant difference between the two groups in terms of amputation rate, mortality, and local recurrence. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE (CEBM): 2a.

Is It Worth Delaying Total Knee Replacement as Late as Possible? A Cost-Effectiveness Analysis Using a Markov Model in the Indian Setting.

BACKGROUND: Total knee replacement (TKR) is often delayed in younger patients in an attempt to prolong the longevity of the prosthesis and avoid the risk of revision. But delaying a TKR might compromise the quality of life of young patients who are otherwise active and healthy. METHODS: We built a Markov decision model to study the simulated clinical course of a 50-year-old patient with severe unilateral knee osteoarthritis who could be either treated with conservative therapies or with a TKR at some point in time. An Indian healthcare payer perspective model was used, and lifetime costs (in Indian rupees), quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs), and incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) were calculated. RESULTS: In the base case scenario, patients who did not receive a TKR had a total lifetime cost of ₹216 709 and accumulated 13.59 QALYS in their lifetime. Those who received a TKR without delay (at age 50) accumulated 16.71 QALYS in their lifetime with an ICER of ₹9789 per QALY. When TKR was delayed, the total QALYs decreased, and ICER increased with each year of delay. But the cumulative risk of revision decreased from 27.4% when TKR was performed at 50 years to 10.0% when TKR was done at 70 years. CONCLUSION: Our analysis found that TKR is a cost-effective procedure when the healthcare payer is willing to pay at least ₹9789 ($132) per QALY. The results also suggested that an early TKR is preferred to a delayed TKR despite the higher incidence of revisions.

Factors associated with delayed surgery in elderly hip fractures in India.

Early hip fracture surgery is recommended to decrease the morbidity and mortality. The extent to which such guidelines are being followed in developing countries like India is unknown. About 20% of the patients presented to hospital after 24 hours of injury, and only one-third had surgery within 48 hours of presentation. INTRODUCTION: Early hip fracture surgery is recommended to decrease the morbidity and mortality following hip fractures. Understanding the factors responsible for delay in surgery is important to improve the quality of hip fracture care. This study was conducted to study the factors causing delay in elderly hip fracture surgery in India. METHODS: In this prospective study, 272 consecutive hip fracture surgeries at a single hospital were included. Delayed surgery was defined as when the time to surgery (reaching hospital to start of incision) was more than 48 hours. Additionally, the total time to surgery (including time taken for patients to reach hospital after injury) was studied. Factors associated with delayed surgery were assessed using regression models. RESULTS: Eighty-seven (32%) patients had a surgery within 48 hours of presentation. Majority of the patients had a delay (82%, N = 151/185) due to one or more medical reasons. Fifty-four (20%) patients presented to hospital after 24 hours of injury. The mean total time to surgery was 112 ± 90 hours with time after reaching hospital contributing to 78% of the total time. Multiple comorbidities (odds ratio, OR = 3.47 [1.42-8.45]), fall as mode of injury (OR = 3.54 [1.61-7.80]), requiring an additional investigation (OR = 10.4 [3.4-31.81]), and requiring arthroplasty (OR = 40.57 [7.01-234.97]) were independently associated with delayed surgery. CONCLUSION: Only about one-third of the patients received surgery within 48 hours of reaching the hospital, and about 20% of the patients presented to hospital after 24 hours of injury. Delayed surgery was primarily due to medical comorbidities. Hospitals should establish protocols to ensure faster optimization of patients.

Does PET/CT Aid in Detecting Primary Carcinoma in Patients with Skeletal Metastases of Unknown Primary?

BACKGROUND: Patients older than 40 years presenting with osteolytic bone lesions are likely to have a diagnosis of carcinoma, even if they had no prior cancer diagnosis. For patients with no prior cancer diagnosis, there is a well-accepted algorithm to determine a potential primary site. That algorithm, however, leaves approximately 15% of people without a detectable primary tumor site, making treatment decisions extremely difficult. Positron emission tomography (PET) fused with CT, more commonly known as PET/CT, has emerged as an important staging modality for many other malignancies but has been used in a very limited fashion in musculoskeletal oncology. QUESTIONS/PURPOSES: We asked (1) What is the ability of PET/CT to detect the source of the primary tumor in patients with a skeletal metastasis of unknown primary? (2) How does PET/CT perform in detecting metastases in other sites in patients with a skeletal metastasis of unknown primary? METHODS: A retrospective analysis between 2006 and 2016 of the pathology database of a single tertiary center identified 35 patients with a biopsy-proven skeletal metastasis (histologically confirmed carcinoma or adenocarcinoma) and a PET/CT scan that was performed after the standard diagnostic evaluation of the primary cancer site. Patients were identified through use of our pathology database to identify all biopsy-proven bone carcinomas. This was then cross referenced with our imaging database to identify all patients who were at any time evaluated with PET/CT. During this time, we identified 1075 patients with biopsy-proven metastatic bone disease through our pathology database. Any indication for a PET/CT was included, and was most often done for staging of the identified malignancy or evaluation for the unknown source. Data regarding the ability of PET/CT to find or confirm the primary cancer and all metastatic sites were evaluated. The standard diagnostic evaluation (history and physical, laboratory evaluation, CT of the chest/abdomen/pelvis and whole body bone scan) identified the primary cancer in 22 of the 35 patients. Among the 35 patients, there were a total of 176 metastatic sites of disease identified, with 115 identified with the standard diagnostic evaluation (before PET/CT). RESULTS: Among patients with a skeletal metastasis of unknown primary, PET/CT was unable to identify the primary cancer in 12 of 13 patients. PET/CT confirmed the site of the known primary cancer in all 22 patients. There were 176 total metastatic sites. Of the 115 metastases known before PET/CT, PET/CT failed to identify three of 115 (3% false-negative rate). CONCLUSIONS: PET/CT may not provide any additional benefit over the standard evaluation for identification of the primary cancer in patients with a skeletal metastasis of unknown primary, although it may have efficacy as a screening tool equivalent or superior to the standard diagnostic algorithm for evaluation of the overall metastatic burden in these patients. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level III, diagnostic study.

Conducting orthopaedic practical examination during the Covid-19 pandemic.

BACKGROUND: As the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic is expected to stay for a longer time, educational activities including residency training have gradually resumed with the aid of virtual tools. In addition to continuing the residency education during COVID-19, it is also important to conduct their examination so that the graduations of final year residents are not delayed. The conventional exam pattern involved clinical case presentations and required resident interaction with a number of patients. However, in view of the COVID-19 pandemic we conducted a "zero-patient contact virtual practical exit examination" for orthopaedic residents. METHODS: In order to replicate the conventional exam case-scenarios, clinical cases were prepared in a digital presentation format. The candidate used N-95 facemasks and gloves, and adequate social distancing was maintained in the examination area. We also designed a 10- item questionnaire aimed at assessing the quality and satisfaction with the exam pattern. RESULTS: The mean score for overall satisfaction with the virtual pattern was 4.5 (out of 5) in examiner group while it was 4.1 in examinee group. Higher scores were also reported for questions related to safety of the exam, relevance and quality of the virtual cases, etc. The mean total feedback score for the examiner and examinee group was 48 and 43.4 respectively (out of 50). CONCLUSION: Orthopaedic residency end-of-training examinations can be successfully conducted during the COVID pandemic, and we hope our experience will be helpful to other residency programs.

Time to Treatment Initiation and Survival in Adult Localized High-Grade Bone Sarcoma.

OBJECTIVE: Few studies have evaluated the prognostic implication of the length of time from diagnosis to treatment initiation in bone sarcoma. The purpose of this study is to determine if time to treatment initiation (TTI) influences overall survival in adults diagnosed with primary bone sarcoma. METHODS: A retrospective analysis of the National Cancer Database identified 2,122 patients who met inclusion criteria with localized, high-grade bone sarcoma diagnosed between 2004 and 2012. TTI was defined as length of time in days from diagnosis to initiation of treatment. Patient, disease-specific, and healthcare-related factors were also assessed for their association with overall survival. Kruskal-Wallis analysis was utilized for univariate analysis, and Cox regression modeling identified covariates associated with overall survival. RESULTS: Any 10-day increase in TTI was not associated with decreased overall survival (hazard ratio (HR) = 1.00; P=0.72). No differences in survival were detected at 1 year, 5 years, and 10 years, when comparing patients with TTI = 14, 30, 60, 90, and 150 days. Decreased survival was significantly associated (P < 0.05) with patient ages of 51-70 years (HR = 1.66; P=0.004) and > 71 years (HR = 2.89; P < 0.001), Charlson/Deyo score ≥2 (HR = 2.02; P < 0.001), pelvic tumor site (HR = 1.58; P < 0.001), tumor size >8 cm (HR = 1.52; P < 0.001), radiation (HR = 1.81; P < 0.001) as index treatment, and residing a distance of 51-100 miles from the treatment center (HR = 1.30; P=0.012). Increased survival was significantly associated (P < 0.05) with chordoma (HR = 0.27; P=0.010), chondrosarcoma (HR = 0.75; P=0.002), treatment at an academic center (HR = 0.64; P=0.039), and a private (HR = 0.67; P=0.006) or Medicare (HR = 0.71; P=0.043) insurer. A transition in care was not associated with a survival disadvantage (HR = 0.90; P=0.14). CONCLUSIONS: Longer TTI was not associated with decreased overall survival in localized, high-grade primary bone sarcoma in adults. This is important in counseling patients, who may delay treatment to receive a second opinion or seek referral to a higher volume sarcoma center.

Orthopaedic resident management during the COVID-19 pandemic - AIIMS model.

The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has had a tremendous impact on various health sectors including residency training programs. The suspension of non-essential health services at many hospitals has led to an increase in the workload for residents in emergency department while there was a sharp decline in the workload of residents in departments like Orthopaedics. In this brief report, we discuss the strategy employed at our institution to effectively redistribute our residents to manage the pandemic, and the measures taken to promote resident training and welfare.

Hypovitaminosis D in lower extremity Joint Arthroplasty: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

The purpose of the current systematic review was to identify the prevalence of hypovitaminosis-D in LE-TJA patients; and outline the association between pre-operative hypovitaminosis and post-operative outcomes. A search of PubMed-Medline and the Cochrane-Library databases was performed for literature published before November 27th, 2019. The eighteen studies analyzed had a pooled prevalence for vitamin D insufficiency (20 - <30 ng/mL) and deficiency (<20 ng/mL) of 53.4% and 39.4%, respectively. Hypovitaminosis-D was associated with higher complication rates (p = 0.043), and a greater prevalence among septic versus aseptic revisions (p = 0.016). Therefore, pre-operative screening for hypovitaminosis-D can be beneficial in patients undergoing LE-TJA. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Systematic Review (Level III).