Economic Burden of Periprosthetic Joint Infection in the United States

This study characterizes the patient and clinical factors influencing the economic burden of periprosthetic joint infection (PJI) in the United States. The 2001-2009 Nationwide Inpatient Sample was used to identify total hip and knee arthroplasties using International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, procedure codes. The relative incidence of PJI ranged between 2.0% and 2.4% of total hip arthroplasties and total knee arthroplasties and increased over time. The mean cost to treat hip PJIs was $5965 greater than the mean cost for knee PJIs. The annual cost of infected revisions to US hospitals increased from $320 million to $566 million during the study period and was projected to exceed $1.62 billion by 2020. As the demand for joint arthroplasty is expected to increase substantially over the coming decade, so too will the economic burden of prosthetic infections.