The American Joint Replacement Registry today released results from a study of total joint arthroplasty revision surgeries exploring the association between hospital size, reason for revision and where the surgery is performed.

The AJRR claims the study to be a first of its kind, with researchers exploring whether there is an association between hospital size and where the revision is performed, as well as how frequently Medicare patients returned to the same hospital or surgeon in the first year for joint infections or dislocations.

“Data on revision rates that depend exclusively on information from the same hospitals where the primary procedures are performed will under report the actual revision rates occurring,” lead study author Dr. Terence Gioe of the University of Minnesota Medical School said in a prepared statement.

Researchers examined hospital claims data and beneficiary enrollment data from Medicare, and found that in hospitals with over 150 beds, approximately 76% of revisions within one year were performed at the same hospital, with the rate increasing with hospital size.

For hospitals with over 450 beds, approximately 88% of revisions were performed at the same location, according to the study.

Infection-related revisions within the first year mainly occurred at the same hospital, with 83% sticking with the original hospital and 80% being performed by the same institution. For dislocation-related total hip arthroplasty revisions, 87% were reported to be performed in the same hospital, with 83% performed by the same surgeon.

“Although this study looked at Medicare data as opposed to AJRR data, the findings will inform future Registry research projects and will lay the groundwork as the AJRR becomes more diverse and comprehensive. It will be interesting to share the results of the study with our international counterparts, and to see if similar trends have occurred on a global scale,” AJRR analytics director Caryn Etkin said in a press release.

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