Editor's Note Patients who live alone can recover effectively and safely at home after total hip arthroplasty (THA) and total knee arthroplasty (TKA), finds this study presented March 14 at the 2017 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons in San Diego. Of 638 patients analyzed (364 THA,…

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Total joint procedures are gradually moving to ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) as technology, medical expertise, and cost pressures combine to make the ASC an increasingly attractive alternative to an acute care hospital. The key to success for these and other complex procedures, experts say, is a combination of careful planning,…

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Editor's Note Bariatric surgery performed before hip or knee replacement can reduce in-hospital and 90-day postoperative complications, finds this study presented March 14 at the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons annual meeting in San Diego. Compared with morbidly obese patients who did not have bariatric surgery before joint replacement, those…

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Editor's Note The use of inpatient rehabilitation compared with a monitored home-based program did not improve mobility at 26 weeks after total knee surgery, this study finds. In the study, 81 patients received 10 days of hospital inpatient rehabilitation followed by an 8-week home-based program, and 87 patients received only…

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Editor's Note In this study of patients undergoing total hip or knee replacement, smoking was associated with an increased risk of infectious complications that required further surgery. In addition, the amount that a patient had smoked, regardless of current smoking status, significantly contributed to increased risk of readmission. A total…

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Editor's Note In this study, Medicare’s Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement bundled payment model resulted in a decrease of $5,577 in total spending per episode. Most hospital savings came from implants and supplies, and most postacute care savings came from decreased use of inpatient rehabilitation and skilled nursing facility care.…

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Editor's Note Nerve blocks in total knee patients were associated with statistically significant reductions in length of stay and readmissions, but no difference in emergency department visits or in-hospital falls, this Canadian study finds. In the analysis of 178,214 patients, adjusted: mean hospital stay was 4.7 days for patients with…

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When leaders at Memorial Healthcare, a 154-bed community hospital in Owosso, Michigan, wanted to get a jump on preparing for bundled payments, they chose to focus on total hip and knee surgery. Creating a perioperative surgical home (PSH) for this patient population paid off in enhanced patient satisfaction and reductions…

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Editor's Note In this study of inpatient and outpatient open reduction and internal fixation (ORIF) for ankle fractures, researchers found a reduced risk of 30-day medical morbidities with outpatient ORIF and no differences in surgical morbidity, reoperations, and readmissions between the two groups. The findings demonstrate that performing ORIF surgery…

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Editor's Note A new survey shows the US implantable device market is expected to reach $73.9 billion by 2018, the January 6 Becker’s Spine Review reports. Among the survey findings: The market was valued at $43.1 billion in 2011. An increasing aging population, number of chronic degenerative diseases, and healthcare…

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