AAOS Registry Program Blog

In the American Joint Replacement Registry (AJRR) 2017 Annual Report, infection was identified as a leading cause of total knee arthroplasty (TKA) and total hip arthroplasty (THA) revisions from 2012 to 2016. The majority of early (<3 months) linked TKA revisions are for infection. The majority of early (<3 months) linked THA revisions are for dislocation, infection, and periprosthetic fracture. With an increasing number of TKA and THA procedures being performed in the United States, the rate of failure has also increased. In 2017, AJRR compared and analyzed data for infection-related revision surgeries from six arthroplasty registries including AJRR. The authors presented their poster at the International Society of Arthroplasty Registries (ISAR) 6th International Congress (May 2017). The results showed that for both hip and knee arthroplasty, each registry with six-year data showed an increase in infection burden over the period of the survey.

The demographics and treatment of femoral neck fracture (FNF) patients have evolved over time. Today's blog uses data from multiple sources to provide orthopaedic surgeons with insights and decision support regarding changing trends in FNF clinical practice. Our primary source is the American Joint Replacement Registry's (AJRR) 2017 presentation at the International Society of Arthroplasty Registries (ISAR) Annual Meeting*. Since the presentation, AJRR has continued to analyze new FNF Registry data and will again share findings at ISAR's 2018 meeting. Our second notable source is a published study in The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery: "Nationwide Analysis of Femoral Neck Fractures in Elderly Patients" (Volume 99-A, Number 22, November 15, 2017)**.

The American Joint Replacement Registry (AJRR), the largest hip and knee replacement registry worldwide, conducted a study analyzing the correlation between hospital size, the reason for revision (or re-do) surgery, and the hospital where the total joint arthroplasty (TJA) revision surgery is performed. The link between these three factors has not been studied extensively until now. A poster on the study's findings was presented at the 2018 American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) Annual Meeting in March. The poster, titled, "Is There a Correlation Between Hospital Size and Revision Indication and Where TJA Revision Surgery is Performed?" can be seen above.

In 2017, the American Joint Replacement Registry (AJRR) achieved a major milestone entering over 1 million arthroplasty procedures into its database. This year's AJRR Annual Report gives the most comprehensive picture to date of U.S. hip and knee replacement patterns. The AJRR 2017 Annual Report collected data from 2012 to 2016 and contains 860,080 procedures. Reflecting rapid and accelerating growth, the Registry's 1 million milestone was achieved in March of last year.

"The Registry has seen significant participation growth since our previous report: a 101 percent increase in procedures, a 57 percent increase in reporting institutions, and a 50 percent increase in surgeons," said AAOS Registry Oversight Committee Chair Daniel J. Berry, MD. "Growth leads to more and better data, enables more actionable analysis, and yields insights that improve surgical decision support."

"AJRR's data has been invaluable in our pursuit to provide better care for our joint replacement patients," said Amanda James, CEO, Swedish Covenant Hospital.