Ankle fusion in patients with chronic hepatitis C

It appears that both the incidence and survival of patients infected with hepatitis C have recently demonstrated a significant increase. The goal of this investigation was to determine the associated perioperative risks associated with ankle arthrodesis in this growing population.

The Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project State Inpatient Databases identified patients with chronic hepatitis C infection who underwent ankle arthrodesis between January 2009 and December 2013. International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, codes were used to define the primary composite outcome of death or postoperative complication. Logistic models with frequency weights were used to compare propensity matched groups.

7339 patients met inclusion criteria. Of these, 157 patients had a history of chronic Hepatitis C infection. After performing a propensity score match, the final analytic cohort was 157 in the Hepatitis C group and 386 in the non-Hepatitis C group. There was no statistically significant differences in complications between patients with chronic Hepatitis C undergoing ankle fusion and those without Hepatitis C at any post-operative time point (inpatient, 30 days, or 90 days).

Patients with chronic hepatitis C infection undergoing ankle arthrodesis are not at an elevated risk of inpatient, thirty, and ninety day postoperative complications compared to patients without chronic HCV infections. Patients with chronic hepatitis C did not have an increased risk of surgical site infection or mortality at any time point.

Prognostic Level III.