The aim of this study was to estimate the costs of primary hip and knee replacement in individuals with osteoarthritis up to 2 years post-surgery, compare costs before and after the surgery, and identify predictors of hospital costs.
Patients aged 18 years or over with primary planned hip or knee replacements and osteoarthritis in England between 2008 and 2016 were identified from the National Joint Registry and linked with Hospital Episode Statistics data containing inpatient episodes. Primary care data linked with hospital outpatient records were also used to identify patients aged 18 years or over with primary hip or knee replacements between 2008 and 2016. All healthcare resource use was valued using 2016/17 costs and non-parametric censoring methods were used to estimate total 1-year and 2-year costs.
We identified 854,866 individuals undergoing hip or knee replacement. The mean censor-adjusted 1-year hospitalisation costs for hip and knee replacement were £7,827 (95% CI £7,813 to £7,842) and £7,805 (95% CI £7,790 to £7,818), respectively. Complications and revisions were associated with up to a three-fold increase in 1-year hospitalisation costs. The censor-adjusted 2-year costs were £9,258 (95 % CI £9,233 to £9,280) and £9,452 (95%CI £9,430 to £9,475) for hip and knee replacement. Adding primary and outpatient care, the mean total hip and knee replacement 2-year costs were £11,987 and £12,578, respectively.
There are significant costs following joint replacement. Revisions and complications accounted for considerable costs and there is a significant incentive to identify best approaches to reduce these.