Total hip arthroplasties in the elderly. Morbidity, mortality, and cost effectiveness.

Forty-two patients older than 80 years were treated with hip arthroplasty from 1980 to 1986. Seventy-five percent experienced a complication. The most common complications were excessive bleeding, postoperative confusion, urinary tract infection, and dislocation. Hospital stay averaged 16 days and was more prolonged in 14 patients. There was one postoperative death. The survival time of the other 41 patients currently ranges from nine months to eight years. At this time, 50% are alive and functional at an average of five-years follow-up evaluation. Comparing the cost of hip arthroplasty to the cost of nursing home placement, the procedure is clearly cost effective.