Chronic corticosteroid use does not increase short-term complications following carpometacarpal arthroplasty

Chronic steroid use has been found to be significantly associated with postoperative complications following total joint arthroplasty. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between chronic steroid and immunosuppressant use and postoperative complications following carpometacarpal (CMC) arthroplasty.

The American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program database was queried for all records of patients who underwent carpometacarpal (CMC) arthroplasty between 2015 and 2020. The initial pool of records was divided into two cohorts: chronic steroid and no chronic steroid use. Patient demographics and comorbidities were compared between cohorts using bivariate logistic regression.

A total of 6624 records of CMC arthroplasty were identified in NSQIP from 2015 to 2020. Of the 6432 records remaining after exclusion criteria, 223 (3.5%) were chronic steroid use and 6209 (96.5%) were without chronic steroid use. The patient demographics and comorbidities significantly associated with chronic steroid use were ASA classification ≥ 3 (p < 0.001), insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (p = 0.032), and COPD (p < 0.001). Compared to no chronic steroid use, chronic steroid use had higher rates of any complication (2.24% vs. 2.01%), superficial incisional SSI (1.35% vs. 0.63%), urinary tract infection (0.45% vs. 0.31%), sepsis (0.45% vs. 0.05%), and mortality (0.45% vs. 0.05%). However, these differences in complication rates were not statistically significant.

Chronic preoperative steroid use was not significantly associated with any increased postoperative complication within 30 days following CMC arthroplasty.

Level III; Retrospective Cohort Comparison; Prognosis Study.