title: Total hip and knee arthroplasty in nonagenarians.
abstract: Among 25 patients of mean age 91.5 years (range, 90-96 years) who received a total hip or knee arthroplasty at the authors' institution, 8% experienced surgical complications, 56% experienced at least 1 medical complication, and 80% received perioperative blood transfusions. At a mean follow-up of 4.1 years, patients were experiencing pain reduction and somewhat higher functional capacity and had slightly better survival characteristics than age-matched controls. Total hip and knee arthroplasty patients in this cohort should be told that they have a higher likelihood of experiencing perioperative medical complications and of receiving a blood transfusion than younger individuals; at the same time, they can expect pain relief as well as equal or better survival than their age-matched peers.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Musculoskeletal Research Center, NYU Hospital for Joint Diseases, New York, NY 10003, USA.
authors.forename: Daniel T
authors.initials: DT
authors.lastname: Alfonso
authors.forename: R Damani
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Howell
authors.forename: Eric J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Strauss
authors.forename: Paul E
authors.initials: PE
authors.lastname: Di Cesare
mesh_terms: D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D019644:Arthroplasty, Replacement, Hip; D019645:Arthroplasty, Replacement, Knee; D001803:Blood Transfusion; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D011183:Postoperative Complications; D016896:Treatment Outcome