Is supplemental regional anesthesia associated with more complications and readmissions after ankle fracture surgery in the inpatient and outpatient setting?

BACKGROUND: There is concern that regional anesthesia is associated with increased risk of complications, including return to the hospital for uncontrolled pain once the regional anesthetic wears off. METHODS: Retrospective database review of patients who underwent open reduction and internal fixation of a closed ankle fracture from 2014-16 who received general anesthesia alone (GA) or general anesthesia plus regional anesthesia (RA). RESULTS: 9459 patients met inclusion criteria. Patients in the RA group had significantly longer operative duration in both inpatient (GAI=71min vs RAI=79min, p=0.002) and outpatient setting (GAO=66min vs RAI=72min, p<0.001), lower overall LOS (GA=1.7 days vs RA=1.1 days, p<0.001), and higher readmission rate for pain (RAO=4 [0.3%] vs GAO=1 [0.0%], p=0.007). CONCLUSIONS: Patients who received supplemental regional anesthesia had shorter hospital LOS, increased operative time, and increased readmission rates for rebound pain. However, the small number of patients needing readmission are not clinically significant demonstrating that regional anesthesia is safe, effective and readmission for rebound pain should not be a concern. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: III.

Greater Rates of Acute Kidney Injury in African American Total Knee Arthroplasty Patients.

BACKGROUND: This retrospective study compared the change in serum creatinine between African American and Caucasian total knee arthroplasty (TKA) patients. The authors hypothesized that African Americans would demonstrate significantly greater change, and that a significantly greater proportion would demonstrate creatinine changes consistent with acute kidney injury (AKI). METHODS: Primary TKAs performed at a single institution between July 2011 and June 2016 were identified: 1035 primary TKAs met inclusion and exclusion criteria (110 African American, 925 Caucasian, excluding Hispanic and Asian patients). None were excluded based on gender, age, body mass index, preoperative diagnosis, or comorbidities. All patients had preoperative and postoperative creatinine levels available in the electronic medical records. Each patient received the same preop and postop protocol for nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug use along with other drugs administered including anesthesia. All patients received 1 g of intravenous vancomycin with some patients additionally receiving 1 g of vancomycin powder administered locally at the end of surgery. All patients were controlled for fluid intake and blood loss, along with no patient receiving a transfusion or intravenous contrast. Patient demographics and preoperative/postoperative serum creatinine were recorded and then analyzed for presence of AKI (≥0.3 mg/dL). Preoperative/postoperative serum creatinine concentrations were compared between African American and Caucasian patients using 2 × 2 repeated measures analysis of variance. Prevalence of patients in each group demonstrating AKI was calculated using Fisher's exact test. RESULTS: African American patients had significantly greater serum creatinine preoperatively (1.00 ± 0.26 vs 0.90 ± 0.22, P < .001) and a significantly greater increase postoperatively (0.10 vs 0.03, P < .001). A significantly greater number of African American patients demonstrated AKI (10.9% vs 5.1%, P = .03). Furthermore, a significantly greater number of African American patients stayed in the hospital an additional 2 or more days for renal issues (2.7% vs 0.4%, P = .03). CONCLUSION: Altered renal function was significantly more common in African American TKA patients. Future studies are necessary to determine if tailoring anti-inflammatories, perioperative medications, and preoperative comorbidities reduce the risk of renal injury and/or a longer hospital stay for this subset of patients.

Comparison of Short, Intermediate, and Long Cephalomedullary Nail Length Outcomes in Elderly Intertrochanteric Femur Fractures.

INTRODUCTION: Cephalomedullary nail (CMN) length for intertrochanteric femur fractures without subtrochanteric extension has been an ongoing debate. The authors hypothesize that increasing nail length would result in increasing surgical time, greater incidence of acute kidney injury (AKI), postoperative anemia, and blood loss requiring transfusion due to increased intramedullary reaming and pressurization of the canal with nail insertion. METHODS: A retrospective chart review of patients aged 65 years or older who underwent CMN for low-energy intertrochanteric femur fractures from 2010 to 2018 was undertaken. Patient demographic data, comorbidities, case duration, postoperative hospital length of stay (LOS), and laboratory data, including serum creatinine, hemoglobin, and hematocrit, were collected for analysis. The following outcome measures were compared: postoperative pneumonia, cardiac complications, sepsis, reintubation/intensive care unit stay, pulmonary embolism, stroke, postoperative AKI, 30-day hospital readmission, 30-day return to operating room, 30-day mortality, 1-year mortality, postoperative anemia (hemoglobin <7 g/dL), and blood transfusion. RESULTS: A total of 247 patients were analyzed (short = 48, intermediate = 39, and long = 160). No notable difference was observed in postoperative pneumonia, cardiac complications, sepsis, reintubation/intensive care unit stay, pulmonary embolism, stroke, mean total hospital LOS, mean postoperative hospital LOS, rate of postoperative AKI, 30-day readmission, 30-day return to operating room, 30-day mortality, or 1-year mortality. Patients receiving long nails had significantly higher rates of postoperative anemia (P = 0.0491), blood transfusion (P = 0.0126), and mean procedure length (P = 0.0044) compared with the two other groups. DISCUSSION: Patients receiving long nails had markedly higher rates of postoperative anemia and blood loss requiring blood transfusion with markedly longer mean procedure length than patients receiving short and intermediate CMNs. Long nails did not result in an increase in other complications evaluated.