Positive COVID-19 Diagnosis Following Primary Elective Total Joint Arthroplasty: Increased Complication and Mortality Rates

This study analyzed complication rates following primary elective total joint arthroplasty (TJA) in patients who subsequently contracted COVID-19. A large national database was queried for adult patients who underwent primary elective TJA in 2020. Patients who contracted COVID-19 after total knee arthroplasty (TKA) or total hip arthroplasty (THA) underwent 1:6 matching (age [±6 years], sex, month of surgery, COVID-19-related comorbidities) to patients who did not. Differences between groups were assessed using univariate and multivariate analyses. Overall, 712 COVID-19 patients were matched to 4,272 controls (average time to diagnosis: 128-117 days [range, 0-351]). Of patients diagnosed