Over the last 10 years, the rates of elective major orthopedic surgical procedures in patients 80 years and older increased in the United States, whereas the in-hospital mortality rates decreased, according to a study published in The Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery.
Researchers examined patients at least 80 years of age in the Nationwide Inpatient Sample who underwent spinal fusion, total hip arthroplasty or total knee arthroplasty from 2000 to 2009.
The study found that the incidence of spinal fusion, total hip arthroplasty and total knee arthroplasty in patients 80 years and older increased. The rate per 100,000 per year was 40 to 102 for spinal fusion, 181 to 257 for total hip arthroplasty and 300 to 477 for total knee arthroplasty.
The study also found that the overall in-hospital complication rate remained stable over time for the aforementioned conditions. The in-hospital mortality rate, however, decreased over time — from 1.1 percent to 0.6 percent for spinal fusion, 0.5 percent to 0.3 percent for total hip arthroplasty and 0.3 percent to 0.2 percent for total knee arthroplasty.
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