Early Postoperative Outcomes After Total Joint Arthroplasty in Patients With Multiple Myeloma

Multiple myeloma is the most common primary bone malignancy and is increasingly becoming a chronic condition, but little is known about its impact in the perioperative arthroplasty setting. We sought to determine whether patients with multiple myeloma undergoing elective total joint arthroplasty would be at increased risk for in-hospital complications and death, prolonged length of stay, and nonroutine discharge.

Using discharge records from the Nationwide Inpatient Sample (2002-2011), we identified 6,054,344 patients undergoing elective primary total joint arthroplasty, of whom 2381 (0.039%) with multiple myeloma. Comparisons of perioperative outcomes were performed by multivariable logistic regression modeling.

Patients with multiple myeloma were more likely to suffer several postoperative complications, including thromboembolic events (odds ratio [OR]: 2.97, 95% CI: 2.32-3.81), surgical site infection (OR: 2.82, 95% CI: 1.59-5.01), acute renal failure (OR: 1.93, 95% CI: 1.59-2.37), and induced mental disorder (OR: 1.57, 95% CI: 1.21-2.04). A diagnosis of multiple myeloma was also associated with higher risk for blood transfusion (OR: 2.14, 95% CI: 1.97-2.33), prolonged hospital stay (OR: 2.04, 95% CI: 1.86-2.23), and nonroutine discharge (OR: 1.33, 95% CI: 1.21-1.45) but was not associated with greater in-hospital mortality.

Patients with multiple myeloma are at increased risk for early postoperative complications (especially surgical site infection and thromboembolic events) and resource utilization after elective joint arthroplasty. Greater awareness of multiple myeloma and its health consequences may contribute to improvements in the perioperative management of total joint arthroplasty patients.