title: Long-term follow-up care recommendations after total hip and knee arthroplasty: results of the American Association of Hip and Knee Surgeons' member survey.
abstract: Long-term follow-up care is needed to evaluate and manage hip and knee arthroplasty outcomes, because impending failure may be asymptomatic. All active American Association of Hip and Knee Surgeons' members (N = 682) were surveyed for recommendations for follow-up care type and frequency, radiograph interpretation, and clinical indicators related to follow-up frequency intervals; and to describe reimbursement experiences and practice demographics. The response rate (65.5%, n = 447) established a 95% (+/-3%) confidence interval for the survey results. We found that 80% of respondents recommended annual or biennial orthopaedic clinical and radiographic examinations, with more frequent follow-up times for clinical or radiologic signs of failure, previous revision arthroplasty, previous joint sepsis, and subnormal periprosthetic bone quality. Further research is needed to correlate follow-up care type and frequency with outcomes, complications, and costs.
authors.affiliation: NorthWest Orthopaedic Institute, Tacoma, Washington 98439-0682, USA.
authors.forename: Steven M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Teeny
authors.forename: Sally C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: York
authors.forename: J Wesley
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Mesko
authors.forename: Ruth E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Rea
mesh_terms: D019644:Arthroplasty, Replacement, Hip / Q000534:rehabilitation* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D019645:Arthroplasty, Replacement, Knee / Q000534:rehabilitation* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003266:Continuity of Patient Care; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006801:Humans; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians'; D012086:Reoperation