Whether hepatitis C virus (HCV)-positive patients are at risk for increased complications and long hospital stay following total joint arthroplasty (TJA) remains unclear. Therefore we performed a meta-analysis aiming to answer the following question: (1) are there differences in postoperative complications including joint infection and mortality between patients with or without hepatitis C following TJAs? (2) Are patients without HCV be associated with less blood loss, shorter hospital stay, lower readmission rate, higher function scores, lower revision and reoperation rates than patients with HCV?

A meta-analysis was conducted to pool data and quantitatively assessing the association between HCV infection and risks for adverse postoperative outcomes. A systematic search of all published studies concerning HCV and TJA was performed in five bibliographic databases, including PubMed, EMBASE, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Library databases. Random-effects meta-analysis of odds ratios (OR) was accomplished according to the classification of adverse events, subgroup analyses were performed based on surgery type.

Fifteen eligible observational studies were included with a sample size of 9,788,166 patients. Overall pooled data revealed the increased risk of overall complications, including medical and surgical complications, in HCV-positive patients undergoing TJA compared with than in HCV-negative people (OR 1.57; 95%CI: 1.44–1.71 [p<0.00001]). Joint infections were highly common in HCV-positive patients undergoing lower-extremity TJA (OR 2.06; 95%CI: 1.73–2.47 [p<0.00001]). Furthermore, HCV infections were associated with high rates of reoperations and revisions (OR 1.47; 95%CI: 1.40–1.55 [p<0.00001]).

Patients with hepatitis C have an increased risk of adverse outcomes post-TJA and a high risk of reoperation and revision that is partially attributed to postoperative complications, particularly joint infections.

III; systematic review and meta-analysis.