Reduced medium-term mortality following primary total hip and knee arthroplasty with an enhanced recovery program

Background and purpose Our unit started to use routine multimodal techniques to enhance recovery for hip and knee arthroplasty in 2008. We have previously reported earlier discharge, a trend toward a reduction in complications, and a statistically significant reduction in mortality up to 90 days after surgery. In this study, we evaluated the same cohort to determine whether survival benefits were maintained at 2 years.

Patients and methods We prospectively evaluated 4,500 unselected consecutive total hip and knee replacements. The first 3,000 underwent a traditional protocol (TRAD) and the later 1,500 underwent an enhanced recovery protocol (ER). Mortality data were collected from the Office of National Statistics (UK).

Results There was a difference in death rate at 2 years (TRAD vs. ER: 3.8% vs. 2.7%; p = 0.05). Survival probability up to 3.7 years post surgery was significantly better in patients who underwent an ER protocol.

Interpretation This large prospective case series of unselected consecutive patients showed a reduction in mortality rate at 2 years following elective lower-limb hip and knee arthroplasty following the introduction of a multimodal enhanced recovery protocol. This survival benefit supports the routine use of an enhanced recovery program for hip and knee arthroplasty.