Association Between Comorbid Depression and Rates of Postoperative Complications, Readmissions, and Revision Arthroscopic Procedures After Elective Hip Arthroscopy.

Background: Depression and related psychiatric diagnoses are common in patients undergoing hip arthroscopy for femoroacetabular impingement syndrome (FAIS). The effects of depression on postoperative complications, readmissions, and additional ipsilateral hip surgery are not well studied.

Hypothesis: Patients with preoperative depression who undergo hip arthroscopy for FAIS would experience higher rates of 90-day postoperative complications and readmissions, with an increased risk of additional ipsilateral hip procedures, as compared with patients without depression.

Study Design: Cohort study; Level of evidence, 3.

Methods: A retrospective cohort study between 2010 and 2019 was performed using the Mariner/PearlDiver database. Current Procedural Terminology and International Classification of Diseases codes were used to compare patients with and without preexisting depression who underwent hip arthroscopy for FAIS. Patients were matched at a 1:1 ratio based on age, sex, Charlson Comorbidity Index, body mass index, and tobacco use. Patients undergoing shoulder or knee arthroscopy were also identified to compare lifetime preoperative depression prevalence amongst groups.

Results: The lifetime preoperative depression prevalence was significantly higher in patients undergoing hip arthroscopy as compared with patients undergoing shoulder or knee arthroscopy (25.4% vs 22.2% vs 19.8%; < .001). When compared with the patients without depression, patients with preoperative depression had higher rates of 90-day readmissions (2.4% vs 1.5%) and complications, including urinary tract infection (36.2% vs 28.9%), pneumonia (12.9% vs 9.1%), hematoma formation (3.1% vs 1.9%), acute kidney injury (4.0% vs 2.6%), deep venous thrombosis/pulmonary embolism (2.6% vs 1.7%), and superficial infection (4.9% vs 2.8%; < .01 for all comparisons). Preoperative depression was associated with significantly higher odds of undergoing revision hip arthroscopy within 2 years (6.3% vs 2.4%; < .001).

Conclusion: Patients with preexisting depression experienced higher rates of 90-day postoperative complications and hospital readmissions after elective hip arthroscopy for FAIS and were more likely to undergo revision hip arthroscopy within 2 years of the index procedure.