Perioperative multidisciplinary implementation enhancing recovery after hip arthroplasty in geriatrics with preoperative chronic hypoxaemia

We investigated risk factors for postoperative serious adverse events (SAEs) in elderly patients with preoperative chronic hypoxaemia undergone total hip arthroplasty (THA) or hemiarthroplasty and performed an implementation to modify and improve clinical outcome. A retrospective medical record review was performed to identify geriatric patients who receiving THA or hemiarthroplasty at a single university teaching hospital, Kunming, Yunnan, China between January 2009 and August 2017. Total of 450 elderly patients were included in the study. Data were collected on baseline characteristics, detailed treatments, and adverse events. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis were used to identify risk factors for SAEs. In multivariate regression analysis, a higher occurrence of general anaesthesia and multiple episodes of hypotension were associated with higher risk of SAEs (general anesthesia: odds ratio [OR] 5.09, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.96–13.24, P = 0.001; hypotension time: OR 4.29, 95% CI 1.66–11.10, P = 0.003). After the multidisciplinary implementation, the postoperative length of stay was decreased from 15 days to 10 days (P < 0.0001); incidence of SAEs was decreased from 21.1% to 7.0% (P = 0.002), and the all-cause mortality rate within 30 days decreased from 4.6% to 1.0% (P = 0.040). Our observational study demonstrated that an increasing application of general anaesthesia and longer time of hypotension were associated with an increased risk of postoperative SAEs in patients after THA or hemiarthroplasty. Additionally, optimizing stable haemodynamics under higher application of combined-spinal epidural anaesthesia was associated with improved outcome up to 30 days after THA or hemiarthroplasty.