Canadian journal of surgery. Journal canadien de chirurgie
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Patients with bilateral end-stage hip or knee arthritis want to know if it is safe to have bilateral surgery under a single anesthetic, to restore their quality of life as quickly as possible. The purpose of this study was to assess if there is an increase in the rate of postoperative medical adverse events, length of stay (LOS), blood transfusion rate and 30-day readmission rate among patients who undergo 1-stage bilateral total hip arthroplasty (BTHA) and 1-stage bilateral total knee arthroplasty (BTKA) compared with patients who undergo 2-stage BTHA and BTKA. ⋯ Healthy patients who undergo 1-stage BTHA and BTKA have postoperative medical complication rates comparable to those of patients who undergo 2-stage procedures with the additional benefits of a shorter acute length of stay, but they do have a higher risk of blood transfusion and are less likely to be discharged directly home from the acute care hospital. A multicentre randomized controlled trial on this topic is currently being condcuted by the Canadian Arthroplasty Society.