Complications and functional outcomes after total hip arthroplasty and total knee arthroplasty: results from the Global Orthopaedic Registry (GLORY).

Overview

The Global Orthopaedic Registry (GLORY) has been designed to monitor a broad range of complications and outcomes that occur following total hip arthroplasty (THA) and total knee arthroplasty (TKA). GLORY provides global 'real-world' data, in contrast to the data generated by the controlled conditions of clinical trials. The results to date show an overall incidence of both in-hospital and post-discharge complications of approximately 7% in THA patients and 8% in TKA patients. The most common in-hospital complications in THA patients are fractures (0.6%) and deep-vein thrombosis (DVT) (0.6%), whereas in TKA patients DVT (1.4%) and cardiac events (0.8%) are most common. The most common post-discharge complications in both THA and TKA patients are reoperation due to bleeding, wound necrosis, wound infection, or other causes; and DVT. Bleeding complications were less common than other adverse events in both groups (in-hospital rates of 0.48% and 0.83%, respectively). Functional outcomes improved after surgery in both groups, as expected. Younger patients and patients who had been discharged directly to their homes seemed to have the greatest improvement in functional outcome after surgery.