Lower-extremity total joint arthroplasty in shoulder arthroplasty patients: does the order of the lower-extremity total joint arthroplasty matter?

Abstract

As total joint arthroplasty (TJA) utilization increases, arthroplasties of multiple joints in a patient are more common. An understanding of the success of shoulder arthroplasty patients also requiring a lower-extremity (hip or knee) TJA is lacking. We evaluated the following questions: (1) Is there a difference in the revision risk following shoulder arthroplasty in patients who also undergo a lower-extremity TJA compared with those who do not? (2) Does the revision risk differ depending on the sequence of the procedures? Patients who underwent elective primary shoulder arthroplasty from 2009 through 2015 were identified using Kaiser Permanente's shoulder arthroplasty registry. Patients with a lower-extremity TJA were identified using the institution's total joint replacement registry. Revision related to the index shoulder was modeled via Cox regression stratified by procedure type and adjusted for confounders. Of the 4751 shoulder arthroplasties identified, 1285 (27.0%) underwent a prior hip and/or knee arthroplasty and 483 (10.2%) underwent a hip and/or knee arthroplasty following the index shoulder arthroplasty. No difference was found in all-cause shoulder revision risk with lower-extremity TJA before (hazard ratio, 1.38; 95% confidence interval, 0.97-1.96) or after (hazard ratio, 1.30; 95% confidence interval, 0.82-2.06) the index shoulder arthroplasty compared with patients who underwent a shoulder arthroplasty only. In our study sample, we did not observe shoulder revision surgery risk to be different in patients who also underwent a lower-extremity TJA, regardless of the sequence of the 2 procedures. Future prospective studies should investigate whether the timing of the lower-extremity TJA in relation to the shoulder procedure impacts the latter's success.