Patients’ risk factors for periprosthetic joint infection in primary total hip arthroplasty: a meta-analysis of 40 studies

BACKGROUND: Periprosthetic joint infection (PJI) is a catastrophic complication after total hip arthroplasty (THA). Our meta-analysis aimed to identify the individual-related risk factors that predispose patients to PJI following primary THA. METHODS: Comprehensive literature retrieval from Pubmed, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Library was performed from inception to Feb 20th, 2021. Patient-related risk factors were compared as per the modifiable factors (BMI, smoke and alcohol abuse), non-modifiable factors (gender, age), and medical history characteristics, such as diabetes mellitus (DM), avascular necrosis (AVN) of femoral head, femoral neck fracture, rheumatoid arthritis (RA), cardiovascular disease (CVD), and osteoarthritis (OA) etc. The meta-analysis was applied by using risk ratios with 95% corresponding intervals. Sensitivity analysis and publication bias were performed to further assess the credibility of the results. RESULTS: Overall, 40 studies with 3,561,446 hips were enrolled in our study. By implementing cumulative meta-analysis, higher BMI was found associated with markedly increased PJI risk after primary THA [2.40 (2.01–2.85)]. Meanwhile, medical characteristics including DM [1.64 (1.25–2.21)], AVN [1.65 (1.07–2.56)], femoral neck fracture [1.75 (1.39–2.20)], RA [1.37 (1.23–1.54)], CVD [1.34 (1.03–1.74)], chronic pulmonary disease (CPD) [1.22 (1.08–1.37)], neurological disease [1.19 (1.05–1.35)], opioid use [1.53 (1.35–1.73)] and iron-deficiency anemia (IDA) [1.15 (1.13–1.17)] were also significantly correlated with higher rate of PJI. Conversely, dysplasia or dislocation [0.65 (0.45–0.93)], and OA [0.70 (0.62–0.79)] were protective factors. Of Note, female gender was protective for PJI only after longer follow-up. Besides, age, smoking, alcohol abuse, previous joint surgery, renal disease, hypertension, cancer, steroid use and liver disease were not closely related with PJI risk. CONCLUSION: Our finding suggested that the individual-related risk factors for PJI after primary THA included high BMI, DM, AVN, femoral neck fracture, RA, CVD, CPD, neurological disease, opioid use and IDA, while protective factors were female gender, dysplasia/ dislocation and OA. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12891-021-04647-1.