Ceramic-on-Polyethylene Bearing Usage in Primary THA Is Associated with Reduced Readmission Risk for the Medicare Population

     REFERENCEJ Hip Surg DOI: 10.1055/s-0038-1642056
     KEYWORDS total hip arthroplasty - Medicare database - health care reform - ceramic-on-ceramic - ceramic-on-polyethylene
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ABSTRACT

The authors hypothesized that unplanned readmissions, which are often caused by infections and dislocation, may be reduced with ceramic bearing usage. They also sought to confirm that the readmission rates for ceramic bearings were associated with the year of surgery. The authors also found that C-PE bearings were associated with significantly reduced readmission risk relative to M-PE at 30 days (hazard ratio [HR]: 0.91, p <ā€‰0.001) and 90 days (HR: 0.93, pā€‰<ā€‰0.001). In terms of strength of association with 90-day readmission, however, it was ranked the ninth most associated independent factor. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first study to demonstrate an association between THA implant characteristics (in this case C-PE bearing usage) and reduced readmission rates in this context along with patient- and clinical-related factors. The readmission rates for COC were found to be comparable to M-PE.