CoxaPro
> Clinical Library > Welcome to the joint replacement clinical library > Does Very High Surgeon or Hospital Volume Improve Outcomes for Hemiarthroplasty Following Femoral Neck Fractures?
The Journal of Arthroplasty, Volume 35, Issue 5, 1268 - 1274
Hip
Link to article
Does Very High Surgeon or Hospital Volume Improve Outcomes for Hemiarthroplasty Following Femoral Neck Fractures?
Clement, R. Carter et al.Hip
Background
This study evaluates whether very high-volume hip arthroplasty providers have lower complication rates than other relatively high-volume providers.
Methods
Hemiarthroplasty patients ≥60 years old were identified in the New York Statewide Planning and Research Cooperative System 2001-2015 dataset. Low-volume hospitals (<50 hip arthroplasty cases/y) and surgeons (<10 cases/y) were excluded. The upper and lower quintiles were compared for the remaining “high-volume” hospitals (50-70 vs >245) and surgeons (10-15 vs ≥60) using multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression. Multiple sensitivity analyses were performed treating volume as a continuous variable.
Results
In total, 48,809 patients were included. Very high-volume hospitals demonstrated slightly less pneumonia (6% vs 7%, hazard ratio [HR] 0.77, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.68-0.88, P < .0001). Very high-volume surgeons experienced slightly higher rates of inpatient morality (3% vs 2%, HR 1.30, 95% CI 1.06-1.60, P = .01), revision surgery (3% vs 3%, HR 1.24, 95% CI 1.02-1.52, P = .03), and implant failure (1% vs <1%, HR 1.80, 95% CI 1.10-2.96, P = .02). Sensitivity analyses did not significantly alter these findings but suggested that inpatient mortality may decline as surgeon volume approaches 30 cases/y before gradually increasing at higher volumes.
Conclusion
A clinically meaningful volume-outcome relationship was not identified among very high-volume hemiarthroplasty surgeons or hospitals. Although prior evidence indicates that outcomes can be improved by avoiding very low-volume providers, these results suggest that complications would not be further reduced by directing all hemiarthroplasty patients to very high-volume surgeons or facilities. Future research investigating whether inpatient mortality changes with surgeon volume (particularly around 30 cases/y) in a different dataset would be valuable.
Level of Evidence
Prognostic Level III.
Link to article