Fast-track versus conventional surgery in relation to time of hospital discharge following total hip arthroplasty: a single-center prospective study

Background: Total hip arthroplasty (THA) has been used for over five decades for treating hip osteoarthritis. THA is a surgical procedure associated with prolonged hospital length of stay (LOS). The aim of this study was to analyze whether a protocol developed for fast-track THA could decrease the time taken to reach functional recovery after surgery and the hospital LOS. Blood transfusion and critical care requirements and the complication rate were evaluated as secondary endpoints. Methods: Ninety-eight patients underwent THA at the University Hospital of the Federal University of Maranhao (Sao Luis, Brazil). The control group included 51 patients who underwent THA through the conventional method. The fast-track surgery (FTS) group included 47 patients who underwent THA through the FTS approach. The inclusion criteria were that the subjects needed to present hip osteoarthritis and at least one clinical indication for THA, and that their risk classification was in ASA category I or II. The following factors were evaluated: age, sex, diagnosis, laterality, type of arthroplasty, blood transfusion, critical care requirement, complications, LOS, and need for re-hospitalization for any reason. For spinal anesthesia, an opioid-free protocol was used. Comparison of categorical variables between the groups was performed using the chi-square test, Shapiro-Wilk test, Student t test, and Poisson regression approach. Results: The FTS and control groups were similar in age and sex distribution (p > 0.05). The majority of the patients in the control group required both blood transfusion and use of the critical care unit, thus differing from the patients who underwent FTS (p < 0.001). The mean hospital LOS in the FTS group was 2.3 +/- 0.8 days, compared with 6.4 +/- 1.5 days in the control group (p < 0.001). Conclusion: Use of FTS was associated with decreased LOS, compared with conventional THA.