Hypothyroidism is associated with higher healthcare utilisation and higher need for blood transfusion after primary total knee arthroplasty (TKA) in patients with osteoarthritis: A National Inpatient Sample analysis.
Abstract
PURPOSE
To examine the association of hypothyroidism with primary total knee arthroplasty (TKA) outcomes in adults with primary underlying diagnosis of osteoarthritis (OA).
METHODS
We identified a prospective cohort of patients in the 2016-2020 national inpatient sample (NIS) that received primary TKA with an underlying diagnosis of OA, identified using International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision, Common Modification (ICD-10-CM) and Procedure Coding System (ICD-10-PCS) codes in the primary procedure and diagnosis positions, respectively. We performed multivariable-adjusted regression analyses for healthcare utilisation (length of hospital stay, hospital charges and discharge destination) and clinical outcomes (blood transfusion; prosthetic fracture, dislocation or infection; inpatient mortality), adjusted for age, sex, race, income, comorbidity, insurance payer, elective surgery, hospital bed size, census region and teaching status.
RESULTS
Between 2016 and 2020, we identified 2,922,075 adults who underwent primary TKA with an underlying diagnosis of OA, of whom 447,875 (16%) had hypothyroidism. For the primary TKA OA cohort, the average age was 66.8 years, 61.4% were female, and 81.3% were White. In the primary TKA OA cohort, hypothyroidism was associated with significantly higher multivariable adjusted odds ratio (aOR) for length of hospital stay above the median, 1.06 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.05-1.08, p < 0.001); total hospital charges above the median, aOR 1.07 (95% CI: 1.04-1.09, p < 0.001); non-routine discharge, aOR 1.07 (95% CI: 1.05-1.09, p < 0.001); and the need for blood transfusion, aOR 1.15 (95% CI: 1.08-1.23, p < 0.001).
CONCLUSION
Hypothyroidism was associated with increased healthcare utilisation and need for blood transfusion after primary TKA for OA. Future studies should investigate whether preoperative optimisation of hypothyroidism can positively improve primary TKA outcomes.
LEVEL OF EVIDENCE
Level II, prospective cohort study.
Links & Identifiers
Keywords
Citation
Chandrupatla SR, Rumalla KC, Singh JA. Hypothyroidism is associated with higher healthcare utilisation and higher need for blood transfusion after primary total knee arthroplasty (TKA) in patients with osteoarthritis: A National Inpatient Sample analysis.. Journal of experimental orthopaedics. 2026;13(1):e70413. doi: 10.1002/jeo2.70413
BibTeX
@article{sr2026hypothyroidismisassociated,
title = {Hypothyroidism is associated with higher healthcare utilisation and higher need for blood transfusion after primary total knee arthroplasty (TKA) in patients with osteoarthritis: A National Inpatient Sample analysis.},
author = {Chandrupatla SR and Rumalla KC and Singh JA},
journal = {Journal of experimental orthopaedics},
year = {2026},
volume = {13},
number = {1},
pages = {e70413},
doi = {10.1002/jeo2.70413},
pmid = {41625020},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1002/jeo2.70413}
}