Analysis of Preoperative Screening Criteria for Total Joint Arthroplasty in a Veteran Population

Abstract Introduction This study describes the experience of patients who initially failed total joint arthroplasty (TJA) preoperative screening criteria but were subsequently optimized and underwent surgery. Methods Time to optimization from the patients’ initial clinic visit was recorded. Following surgery, patients’ BMI and lab work were tracked to determine if they “relapsed” to their pre-optimized state. Descriptive statistics determined 1) the length of time to meet screening criteria and 2) which screening criteria took the longest to optimize. Results Only 11 of 84 patients (13%) required greater than 1 year to meet criteria. Most patients (76%) “relapsed” to their previous non-qualifying status after surgery; however, this reversion did not contribute significantly to an increased rate of complication in short-term follow up (p=0.4298). Conclusion Patients in this study were able to achieve preoperative screening criteria for TJA in less than 1 year. Relapsing after surgery does not appear to adversely affect clinical outcomes.