Staggered Rather Than Staged or Simultaneous Surgical Strategy May Reduce the Risk of Acute Kidney Injury in Patients Undergoing Bilateral TKA

Background: The strategy for bilateral total knee arthroplasty (TKA) depends on the timing of surgery for each knee. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the type of surgical strategy for bilateral TKA (staggered, staged, or simultaneous) influences the incidence of acute kidney injury (AKI) and related complications. Methods: Enrolled patients from a single tertiary teaching hospital were divided into 3 groups according to the surgical strategy for bilateral TKA: staggered (<= 7 days between the first and second procedure; n = 368), staged (8 days to 1 year between the first and second procedure; n = 265), or simultaneous (n = 820). The incidence of AKI as defined by the Kidney Disease Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) criteria was assessed. The rates of major postoperative complications, major adverse cardiovascular and cerebral events, intensive care unit (ICU) admissions, and mortality were also evaluated. To reduce the influence of possible confounding factors, inverse probability of treatment weighting based on propensity-score analysis was used. Results: The primary outcome was the incidence of AKI according to surgical strategy. The staggered group had a lower rate of AKI compared with the other 2 groups (p < 0.001): 2.4% (9 of 368 patients), 6.0% (16 of 265), and 11.2% (92 of 820) in the staggered, staged, and simultaneous groups, respectively. Conclusions: The type of bilateral TKA strategy was an independent risk factorfor the development of AKI. The assessment of additional risk factors for the development of AKI is essential before deciding on surgical strategy.