JSES Open Access. 2017 Mar; 1(1): 15–18.

The hospital cost of two-stage reimplantation for deep infection after shoulder arthroplasty

Yaser M.K. Baghdadi, MD, Hilal Maradit-Kremers, MD, MSc, Taylor Dennison, MD, Jeanine E. Ransom, BA, John W. Sperling, MD, MBA, Robert H. Cofield, MD, and Joaquin Sánchez-Sotelo, MD, PhD*
Shoulder

Background

The cost of treating infection after hip and knee arthroplasty is well documented in the literature. The purpose of this study was to determine the cost of two-stage reimplantation for deep infection after shoulder arthroplasty.

Methods

Between 2003 and 2012, 57 shoulders (56 patients) underwent a two-stage reimplantation for deep periprosthetic shoulder infection; implants placed at reimplantation included anatomic total shoulder arthroplasty (a-TSA) in 58%, reverse total shoulder arthroplasty (r-TSA) in 40%, and hemiarthroplasty (HA) in 2%. During the same timeframe, 2953 primary shoulder arthroplasties (2589 patients) were performed at the same institution (a-TSA in 55%, r-TSA in 28%, and HA in 17%). Total direct medical costs were calculated by using standardized, inflation-adjusted costs for services and procedures billed during hospitalization and were adjusted to nationally representative unit costs in 2013 inflation-adjusted dollars.

Results

The mean hospital cost (per shoulder) for two-stage reimplantation was $35,824 (95% CI: 33,363 to 38,285) and was significantly higher than for primary procedures (mean: $16,068; 95% CI: 15,823 to 16,314). Both Part A and Part B costs were significantly higher in two-stage reimplantation (p < 0.001). For part A (hospital services), the mean cost for two-stage reimplantation was $29,851 (95% CI: 27,741 to 31,960), compared to $13,508 (95% CI: 13,302 to 13,715) for primaries. For part B (professional costs), mean costs were $5973 (95% CI: 5493 to 6453) versus 2560 (95% CI: 2512 to 2608) respectively.

Conclusions

The hospital cost of two-stage reimplantation for the treatment of an infected shoulder arthroplasty is about two times higher than the cost of a primary shoulder arthroplasty.


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