Rl. Barrack et al., SURGEON WORK INPUT AND RISK IN PRIMARY VERSUS REVISION TOTAL JOINT ARTHROPLASTY, The Journal of arthroplasty, 10(3), 1995, pp. 281-286
One hundred twenty stratified nonselected cases of primary and revisio
n total joint arthroplasties performed between 1990 and 1992 in which
complete financial and clinical data were available were reviewed. All
cases were performed at a single university hospital. Compared with p
rimary total joint arthroplasty, revision surgery involved significant
ly more operative time, greater blood loss, increased length of stay,
and a much higher complication rate. The actual physician reimbursemen
t was not significantly more than for primary procedures. Physician re
imbursement constituted 18% of the total fees collected compared with
24% for the actual prosthesis cost. Surgeons performing revision surge
ry devote significantly more time and are at a higher liability than w
hen performing primary total joint arthroplasty.