Total Hip Replacement (THR) Quality Measures
According to the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare
Organizations (JCAHO) Surgical Infection Prevention Core Performance Measures,
patients undergoing hip arthroplasty should receive a prophylactic antibiotic
within one hour prior to the surgical incision being made.
Surgical site infections
affect approximately 500,000 persons per year according to a Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention report. Numerous factors such as age and general health
status of persons undergoing surgery can affect rates of infection at any given
hospital. One of the National
Patient Safety Goals from the Joint Commission
on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations is prevention of health care associated
infection.
The Medicare
Quality Improvement Community (MedQIC), a national knowledge forum for healthcare
and quality improvement professionals, encourages careful selection and use
of antibiotics for surgical procedures. The benefits of selective peri-operative
antibiotic use have been repeatedly demonstrated since the 1960's (Archives
of Surgery. February 2005; 140(2): 174-182).
Also,
prophylactic antibiotics should be discontinued within 24 hours after the surgery
end time.
94% of
St. Mary's Hospital Medical Center's total hip replacement patients received prophylactic (preventive)
antibiotics within one hour prior to the surgical incision in
2006.
73% of
St. Mary's Hospital Medical Center's total hip replacement patients had their antibiotics discontinued
within 24 hours after the surgery end time in
2006.