REVISION AND PRIMARY HIP AND KNEE ARTHROPLASTY - A COST-ANALYSIS

The cost of health care in the United States has been rising steadily during the past 10 years, Total joint arthroplasty, a commonly perform ed orthopaedic procedure, accounts for approximately $10 billion dolla rs per year. The objective of this study was to perform a clinician-or iented cost analysis of primary and revision hip and knee arthroplasty , Twenty-five consecutive cases each of total knee arthroplasty, total hip arthroplasty, revision total knee arthroplasty, and revision tota l hip arthroplasty were analyzed, The length of stay and number of min utes spent in the operating room were significantly higher for the pat ients with revision hip surgery than for the other groups, The total c harges for the prosthesis in the 4 groups exceeded 40% of the total ch arges for the procedure, Primary hip and knee surgery had similar bill ed costs, and work for revision hip surgery has a significantly higher billed cost than physician's work, The implant selection process by a n orthopaedic surgeon performing arthroplasty of the hip and knee need s to include economic aspects.