Total Hip and Knee Replacements 2002 - Key Findings

• Total hip and knee replacements have steadily increased in Pennsylvania. Between 1993 and 2002 the number of knee replacements increased by 70.1 percent, and the number of total hip replacements increased by 48.6 percent.
• Readmissions due to deep joint infection or device problem resulted in approximately $30 million in charges and 6,095 hospital days, those for blood clot (lung/leg) resulted in $2.4 million in charges and 889 hospital days, and those for wound infection resulted in $2.7 million in charges and 703 hospital days.
• The statewide complication rate for deep joint infection or device problem was 2.4 percent. The statewide blood clot (lung/leg) rate was 1.3 percent. For wound infection the statewide rate was 0.5 percent.
• In 2002 the average number of days a patient spent in the hospital following a total hip or knee replacement was 3.7 days. This does not include additional care, such as rehabilitative care, that, on average, added 7.7 days for the patients in this study.
• "Bilateral total joint replacements," in which both knees or both hips are replaced during the same hospital stay under one anesthesia, have been more popular in recent years. Between 1993 and 2002, the percent of bilateral knee replacements in Pennsylvania nearly tripled – from 3.4 percent of all knee replacements to 9.0 percent. The percent of bilateral total hip replacements also increased, from 1.2 percent in 1993 to 2.2 percent in 2002.