Effect of neuraxial anesthesia on total hip, knee outcomes

Editor's Note

Increased use of neuraxial anesthesia was associated with lower hospitalization costs for hip and knee replacements, but more studies are needed before considering neuraxial anesthesia as a marker of quality, this study finds.

National data on 808,237 total knee and 371,607 total hip replacements were analyzed. Increasing frequency of neuraxial anesthesia was not linked to reliable improvements in any of the study’s clinical outcomes. However, there were significant reductions in hospitalization costs for knee (-14.1%) and hip (-15.6%) replacements, which coincided with significant volume effects.