Hospital length of stay (LOS) after primary total knee arthroplasty (TKA) has decreased obviously following the implementation of enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) program in the last few years. However, there are still some patients that cannot be discharged at early time for a variety of reasons, and it is necessary to explore factors leading to prolonged LOS. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to identify the complete preoperative, perioperative, and postoperative factors associated with prolonged postoperative LOS (PLOS) after primary TKA in a detailed ERAS program. In a consecutive series from July 2015 to March 2017, all patients who underwent unilateral elective primary TKA were included in the retrospective study. A PLOS greater than 3 days was considered a prolonged PLOS. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was performed to identify patient characteristics and relevant preoperative, perioperative, and postoperative variables that were associated with prolonged PLOS and postoperative complications. A total of 241 patients were included with a mean PLOS of 3.8 days. Prolonged PLOS was significantly associated with preoperative valgus deformity of the knee (OR 4.95, 95%CI 1.56–15.77, P = 0.007), increased serum level of interleukin-6 on postoperative day 1 (OR 1.01, 95%CI 1.00–1.03, P = 0.039), increased visual analogue scale pain score and serum level of C-reactive protein on postoperative day 3 (OR 2.56, 95%CI 1.28–5.13, P = 0.008; OR 1.01, 95%CI 1.00–1.03, P = 0.019), increased day to achieve 90° active knee flexion after surgery (OR 2.19, 95%CI 1.27–3.79, P = 0.005), and postoperative wound complications (OR 8.58, 95%CI 2.10–35.03, P = 0.003) and other minor complications (OR 6.04, 95%CI 2.40–15.19, P < 0.001). Preoperative pulmonary infection (OR 2.75, 95%CI 1.20–6.28, P = 0.016), American Society of Anesthesiologists score 3/4 (OR 2.14, 95%CI 1.01–4.52, P = 0.046), and utilization of catheter after surgery (OR 2.53, 95%CI 1.23–5.19, P = 0.012) were significantly associated with postoperative complications. Multiple factors were associated with prolonged PLOS and postoperative complications after TKA in the ERAS program. It is important to recognize all the factors to try to maximize the use of medical resources and ultimately optimize the care of our patients.

In an enhanced recovery after surgery program, not placing a closed suction drain following routine primary total joint arthroplasty (TJA) is becoming more acceptable. However, the influence of drain use on transfusion rate and postoperative length of stay (PLOS) in TJA remains controversial. Therefore, we aimed to compare drain use with no drain in routine primary TJA to determine the differences in transfusion rate and PLOS. We analyzed the data from 12,992 patients undergoing primary unilateral TJA: 6325 total knee arthroplasties (TKA) and 6667 total hip arthroplasties (THA). Patients were divided into two groups according to whether they received a drain postoperatively following TKA and THA. We extracted information for transfusion and PLOS from patients’ electronic health records and analyzed the data by logistic and linear regression analyses. The transfusion rate and PLOS were 15.07% and 7.75 ± 3.61 days, respectively, in the drain group and 6.72% and 6.54 ± 3.32 days, respectively, in the no-drain group following TKA. The transfusion rate and PLOS were 20.53% and 7.00 ± 3.35 days, respectively, in the drain group and 13.57% and 6.07 ± 3.06 days, respectively, in the no-drain group following THA. After adjusting for the following variables: age, gender, body mass index, orthopedic diagnoses, hypertension, type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, preoperative hemoglobin, albumin, analgesic use, anesthesia, American Society of Anesthesiologists class, tranexamic acid use, intraoperative bleeding, operative time, and tourniquet use (for TKA), drain use correlated significantly with a higher transfusion rate (risk ratio = 2.812, 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.224–3.554, P < 0.001 for TKA and risk ratio = 1.872, 95% CI 1.588–2.207, P < 0.001 for THA) and a longer PLOS (partial regression coefficient (B) = 1.099, 95% CI 0.879–1.318, P < 0.001, standard regression coefficient (B′) = 0.139 for TKA; B = 0.973, 95% CI 0.695–1.051, P < 0.001, and B′ = 0.115 for THA). Two groups showed no significant difference in wound complications. Our findings indicated that drain use was associated with a higher transfusion rate and a longer PLOS in patients undergoing routine primary TJA. The routine use of postoperative drainage is not recommended in primary unilateral TJA.

What is known and objective Tranexamic acid (TXA) is a novel treatment option for melasma; however, no consensus exists on its use. This study evaluates the efficacy and safety of TXA for melasma. Methods A comprehensive literature review was conducted to search for randomized controlled trials comparing TXA alone, TXA as adjuvant to routine treatment and placebo. Changes in the Melasma Area Severity Index (MASI)/modified MASI (mMASI) between pre‐ and post‐treatment and between a certain melasma treatment and TXA were the primary outcomes. Twenty‐four trials comparing oral, topical or intradermal TXA with routine treatment were included in the meta‐analysis. Results and discussion The change in MASI/mMASI scores at 4 (MD, 3.58; 95% confidence interval (CI), 2.15–5.01), 8 (MD, 5.08; 95% CI, 3.34–6.81), 12 (MD, 4.89; 95% CI, 3.80–5.97) and 16 (MD, 6.55; 95% CI, 2.62–10.48) weeks after treatment was all less than the baseline scores, regardless of the delivery route. The reduction in the MASI/mMASI scores between TXA adjuvant and routine treatment at 4 (MD, −0.43; 95% CI, −0.79 to −0.08), 8 (MD, −0.81; 95% CI, −1.09 to −0.54), 12 (MD, −1.10; 95% CI, −1.78 to −0.43) and 16 (MD, −1.12; 95% CI, −1.51 to −0.74) weeks was significant. However, the superiority of TXA was not detected when the topical or intradermal route was adopted. No serious adverse events occurred with the use of TXA. What is new and conclusion These results suggest that oral TXA is an available, effective and safe alternative treatment for melasma.

Background: Blood biomarkers are first-line tools for identifying periprosthetic joint infection (PJI). C-reactive protein (CRP) is currently recognized as the standard biomarker for PJI diagnosis. Other recently reported novel biomarkers, including plasma fibrinogen, platelet count, monocyte/lymphocyte ratio (MLR), neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR), and platelet count/lymphocyte ratio (PLR), have also shown promise in diagnosing PJI. This study aimed to evaluate whether these biomarkers were superior to CRP for identifying PJI. Methods: Patients who underwent revision hip or knee arthroplasty at our hospital from January 2008 to September 2020 were included consecutively and divided into infected and non-infected groups according to the 2013 International Consensus Meeting Criteria. Blood samples were collected preoperatively, and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), CRP, interleukin-6, fibrinogen, platelet count, MLR, NLR, and PLR were analyzed. The diagnostic values of the tested biomarkers and their combinations were compared with CRP based on the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) using the z-test. Classification trees were constructed to explore more accurate combinations of the tested markers for identifying PJI. Results: A total of 543 patients were included, of whom 245 had PJI. Among the tested biomarkers, CRP with a cutoff of 7.39 mg/L showed the highest AUC, which gave a sensitivity of 79.1% and specificity of 86.0%. The AUCs of pairwise combinations of tested markers including CRP also were inferior to CRP itself, as were combinations derived from classification trees. Conclusions: Preoperative serum CRP with a low cutoff may be the best reliable blood biomarker for identifying PJI, and those traditional or novel available blood biomarkers could not further improve the diagnostic ability on the basis of CRP.