Impact of renal disease on elective shoulder arthroplasty outcomes for glenohumeral osteoarthritis

BackgroundRenal disease including chronic renal disease and end-stage renal disease has been associated with the development of primary glenohumeral osteoarthritis. However, little is known about how renal disease affects outcomes after shoulder arthroplasty. Thus, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of renal disease on outcomes of shoulder arthroplasty for glenohumeral osteoarthritis.MethodsThis was a retrospective review using the Nationwide Readmissions Database. Using International Classification of Diseases, 9th Revision, codes, patients who underwent shoulder arthroplasty (including total shoulder arthroplasty and reverse total shoulder arthroplasty) for primary glenohumeral osteoarthritis were identified. These patients were divided into 3 groups: no renal disease, predialysis chronic renal disease (including stages 1-5), and end-stage renal disease. Primary outcomes of interest included the risk of complications during index hospitalization as well as within 90 days of index surgery. Secondary outcomes included index hospitalization length of stay, cost, and discharge location.ResultsFrom 2010 to 2014, a total of 29,336 patients underwent shoulder arthroplasty for glenohumeral osteoarthritis. Of these 29,336, 27,928 (95.2%) patients had no renal disease, 1355 (4.6%) had predialysis chronic renal disease, and 53 (0.2%) patients had end-stage renal disease. Compared with patients with no renal disease, both predialysis chronic renal disease and end-stage renal disease patients had an increased risk of receiving blood transfusions (odds ratio [OR] = 2.04, P < .0001, and 5.37, P = .04, respectively) and experiencing any postoperative complication during the index hospitalization (OR = 2.31, P < .0001, and 3.94, P = .003, respectively). Specifically, predialysis chronic renal disease patients were at an increased risk for cardiac (OR = 1.96, P < .0001) and respiratory (OR = 1.55, P < .0001) complications as well as acute renal failure (OR = 14.70, P < .0001) postoperatively. End-stage renal disease patients were at an increased risk for cardiac (OR = 3.87, P = .003) complications as well as acute renal failure (OR = 10.35, P = .002) postoperatively. Within 90 days, end-stage renal disease patients had an increased risk of hospital readmission (OR = 8.01, P < .0001), dislocation (OR = 8.70, P = .039), and surgical site infection (OR = 19.06, P = .001). Finally, compared with patients with no renal disease, predialysis chronic renal disease and end-stage renal disease patients both had increased hospital length of stay and cost; predialysis chronic renal disease patients had an increased risk of discharge to a skilled nursing facility (OR = 1.39, P = .039).Discussion and ConclusionThis retrospective cohort study demonstrates that even predialysis chronic renal disease patients have worse outcomes compared with patients with no renal disease after shoulder arthroplasty for glenohumeral osteoarthritis. These findings serve to highlight the importance of close perioperative monitoring to prevent complications in a potentially overlooked patient population.