Preoperative Hypoalbuminemia Not Associated With Total Ankle Arthroplasty Outcomes.

Background.: This study aims to investigate the effect of hypoalbuminemia on the rates of 30-day complication, readmission, and reoperation following total ankle arthroplasty (TAA).

Methods.: The American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program database was queried from 2007 to 2019 to identify 710 TAA patients. Patients were then stratified into normal (n = 673) or low (n = 37) albumin groups. Demographics, medical comorbidities, concomitant procedures, hospital length of stay, and 30-day complication, readmission, and reoperation rates were compared between groups. Preoperative serum albumin level was also used as a continuous variable when analyzing postoperative outcomes.

Results.: The overall cohort was predominantly male (51.5%), and the mean age was 65.02 (range, 45-87) years. We found there to be no statistically significant difference in demographics between cohorts. However, hypoalbuminemia patients were significantly more likely to use long-term steroids for a chronic condition (normal = 6.1%, low = 18.9%; P = .009). Additionally, there was no difference in 30-day complication (normal = 3.0%, low = 0.0%; P = .618), readmission (normal = 2.4%, low = 0.0%; P = .632), and reoperation (normal = 1.0%, low = 0.0%; P = 1.000) rates between groups.

Conclusion.: The results of this study show that malnourished patients are not at an increased risk of 30-day complication, readmission, or reoperation following TAA despite having a worse preoperative comorbidity profile.

Level of evidence: Level III, Retrospective cohort study.