Complications and hospitalization costs in patients with hypothyroidism following total hip arthroplasty

Hypothyroidism is a common disease in the US population. The impact of hypothyroidism on perioperative complications of total hip arthroplasty is poorly understood. To examine risk factors and hospitalization costs in patients with hypothyroidism after total hip arthroplasty (THA) using a large-scale sample national database.

A case-control study was performed based on the national inpatient sample database from 2005 to 2014. With the use of propensity scores, patients with hypothyroidism were matched in a 1:1 ratio to those without hypothyroidism by age, gender, race, Elixhauser Comorbidity Index (ECI), and insurance type. Patient demographics, postoperative complications, length of stay (LOS), and hospital costs were compared between matched cohorts. Short-term complication rates after THA were compared using multivariate logistic analysis.

The proportion of patients with hypothyroidism receiving THA was 12.97%. Linear regression analysis yielded that patients with hypothyroidism receiving THA were more likely to have postoperative acute anemia (odds ratio = 1.15; 95% confidence interval = 1.12-1.18) and higher mean hospital costs compared to the non-hypothyroid cohort.

This present study demonstrates that hypothyroid patients undergoing THA have a higher risk of short-term complications. Furthermore, it significantly increased the total cost of hospitalization, which deserves more attention from orthopedic surgeons.