Cost effectiveness of total knee arthroplasty from a health care providers' perspective before and after introduction of an interdisciplinary clinical pathway - is investment always improvement?

Table 2 Surgical process characteristics in TKA patients before and after implementation of a clinical pathway were found comparable.

	before pathway implementation	after pathway implementation, without personal briefing	after pathway implementation and personal briefing
	(n = 132)	(n = 70)	(n = 58)
*surgery performed by trial investigator*	25%	30%	22%
*median duration of surgery*	88 min	83 min	87 min
*median duration of indoor treatment*	9 days	9 days	9 days
*patients with PCCL* ¹„0"	42%	60%	55%
*patients with PCCL* ¹„*3" or*„4"	34%	27%	24%

distribution characteristics for surgical process characteristics assessed in 132 patients, who underwent total knee arthroplasty (TKA) before implementation of a critical pathway on TKA, versus 128 patients, who underwent TKA after path implementation (the latter being stratified for attendance of a personal briefing as a voluntary part of the pathway)
¹PCCL = patient comorbidity complexicity level

ISSN: 1472-6963