Abstract
Background
A prior survey of members of the American Association of Hip and Knee Surgeons revealed
that 78% of responding surgeons were named as a defendant in at least 1 lawsuit, and
69% of these lawsuits were dismissed or settled out of court. The most common sources
of litigation were nerve injury, limb-length discrepancy, and infection. This study
examined common reasons for lawsuits after total joint arthroplasty (TJA) in a single
metropolitan area.
Methods
A retrospective review of lawsuits filed between 2009 and 2015 in a 5-county metropolitan
area was performed, including 30 hospitals and 113 TJA surgeons. Complaints underwent
a manual review to determine the number of lawsuits and the specific allegations filed
against each surgeon.
Results
Thirty-one (27.4%) surgeons were named as a defendant in at least 1 lawsuit. Eighty-three
total lawsuits were filed during the period, 50 of which were dismissed or settled
outside of court. Top reasons for lawsuits were, in descending order, infection, nerve
injury, chronic pain, vascular injury, periprosthetic fracture, retention of foreign
body, dislocation, limb-length discrepancy, venous thromboembolism, loosening, compartment
syndrome, and other medical complaints.
Conclusion
Infection appears to be the basis of most lawsuits after TJA. Surgeons should be aware
of the potential for a lawsuit for complications and should strive to better communicate
with patients regarding preoperative informed consent and disclosure after adverse
events. Surgeons should minimize performing surgery in patients at high risk of complications,
such as patients with a higher likelihood of developing postoperative infection or
patients on chronic pain medications.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: December 13, 2017
Accepted:
December 6,
2017
Received in revised form:
November 15,
2017
Received:
September 28,
2017
Footnotes
One or more of the authors of this paper have disclosed potential or pertinent conflicts of interest, which may include receipt of payment, either direct or indirect, institutional support, or association with an entity in the biomedical field which may be perceived to have potential conflict of interest with this work. For full disclosure statements refer to https://doi.org/10.1016/j.arth.2017.12.007.
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© 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
