Comparison of Health Care Costs Between Aseptic and Two Stage Septic Hip Revision

The number of septic and aseptic total hip arthroplasty (THA) revisions will increase, which involves a greater financial burden. We here provide a retrospective consecutive analysis of the major variable direct costs involved in revision THA for aseptic and septic failure. A total of 144 patients (30 septic, 114 aseptic) treated between January 1, 2009 and March 31, 2012 was included. The management of septic THA loosening is much more expensive than that of aseptic loosening ($14,379.8 vs. $5,487.4). This difference is mainly attributable to the two-stage exchange technique used for septic failure (hospital stay: 40.2 vs. 15.6 days) and significantly higher implant costs ($3,930.9 vs. $2,298.2). The septic implantation part is on average $3,384.6 more expensive than aseptic procedures (P < .001).