Does Hemophilia Increase the Risk of Postoperative Blood Transfusion After Lower Extremity Total Joint Arthroplasty?

BACKGROUND: Hemophilia can lead to the development of arthropathies secondary to recurrent hemarthroses. However, given these patients' bleeding tendencies, postoperative complications associated with blood loss are a considerable concern.

METHODS: We identified men in the Nationwide Inpatient Sample who underwent total hip or knee arthroplasty between January 1998 and December 2010. We used propensity scores to match 332 hemophiliacs (267 hemophilia A, 65 hemophilia B) to a comparison cohort of 996 patients in a 1:3 ratio, according to the site of arthroplasty, year of admission, age, race, and Charlson and Deyo score.

RESULTS: The incidence of any postoperative transfusion was 15.06% for hemophiliacs, compared with 9.84% for the matched comparison cohort (P = .012). For hemophiliacs, the odds ratio was 1.60 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.11-2.31; P = .013) for any transfusion, 1.90 (95% CI = 1.24-2.92; P = .003) for allogenic transfusion, and 1.05 (95% CI = 0.56-1.95; P = .888) for autogenic transfusion.

CONCLUSION: Hemophilia is associated with an increased risk of blood transfusion after lower extremity total joint arthroplasty. Patients and providers should discuss these risks before surgery, and insurers should consider incorporating this comorbidity into bundled payments for total hip and knee arthroplasty.