Purpose
Interest in bilateral total hip arthroplasty (THA) has been increasing over the past decade. This study aims to compare postoperative local and systemic complications, hospital readmissions, and satisfaction assessment in patients undergoing simultaneous versus staged bilateral THA.
Methods
A retrospective observational study was conducted among patients who underwent simultaneous or staged bilateral THA between 2017 and 2020. Data on perioperative parameters, local and systemic complications, and 30-day hospital readmissions were collected. Patient satisfaction was assessed using Forgotten Joint Score (FJS). The comparison of continuous variables with normal distribution of variance was performed by ANOVA; for variables with abnormal distribution, the nonparametric test Mann–Whitney U was adopted. The distribution of dichotomous variables was analyzed by chi-square test, and statistical significance was calculated by Fisher exact test.
Results
The study included 199 patients, of whom 156 underwent staged and 43 simultaneous bilateral THA. A total of 44 patients developed complications (21 systemics, 12 locals, and 20 postoperative anemia). There were no significant differences regarding local (simultaneous 5% vs. staged 6%; p = 0.999) or systemic complications (simultaneous 14% vs. staged 10%; p = 0.408). Only the incidence of postoperative anemia was significantly higher in simultaneous group compared with staged group (p = 0.003). There were no significant differences in FJS between the two groups (p = 0.258).
Conclusion
No differences in local or systemic complications nor readmission rates were observed following simultaneous or staged bilateral THA. Simultaneous bilateral THA is non-inferior to staged implants in terms of safety and patient satisfaction.
