Bleeding disorder increases the risks of complications following arthroscopic rotator cuff repair

It is imperative to determine patients’ risk factors prior to arthroscopic rotator cuff repair (ARCR), so that the physician and patient are both aware of the possible postoperative complications. However, the impact of bleeding disorders on a patient’s short-term postoperative outcome has not yet been analyzed.

A national database was queried for patients undergoing ARCR from 2006 to 2018. Two patient cohorts were defined: patients with a bleeding disorder and patients without a bleeding disorder. In this analysis, outcomes including postoperative complications, hospital admission, extended length of stay, and mortality were compared between the two cohorts using bivariate and multivariate analyses.

Of 33,374 patients undergoing ARCR, 32,849 patients (98.4%) did not have a bleeding disorder whereas 525 patients (1.6%) had a bleeding disorder. Following adjustment on multivariate analyses, patients with a bleeding disorder had an increased risk of postoperative transfusion (OR 8.11; p = 0.044), sepsis (OR 11.86; p = 0.003), hospital admission (OR 1.41; p = 0.008), and mortality (OR 8.10; p = 0.019).

Patients with documented bleeding disorder have an increased risk of postoperative complications compared to patients without a bleeding disorder. Consequently, it is essential to recognize these risk factors to decrease postoperative complications to optimize patient outcomes and costs.

Level of evidence: III.