Total Knee Arthroplasty Is Safe in Jehovah's Witness Patients-A 12-Year Perspective

Revision Total Hip Arthroplasty in Jehovah's Witnesses at a Public Hospital: Practical Recommendations for a Low-Resource Setting

Revision total hip arthroplasty (THA) is a major reconstructive procedure traditionally associated with significant blood loss. Jehovah’s Witnesses (JW) do not accept blood or blood product transfusions because of their religious beliefs. When confronted with a JW patient requiring a complex arthroplasty procedure, surgeons face moral and ethical questions and may be reluctant to perform surgery. A successful outcome depends on several factors including surgical and anesthetic expertise, a range of revision implants, and a multimodal blood management protocol. While these resources are readily available in a developed country, in many of the developing Caribbean islands, the healthcare system is underfunded and under-resourced.

Here, we describe our experience performing a revision THA on a JW patient in the Caribbean. Through this case report, we aim to illustrate our approach to blood management by exploring the fundamental elements that were employed in a low-resource setting. We believe that the extrapolation of these crucial principles to the broader category of primary arthroplasty in the general population can be used to reduce the rate of blood transfusion, increase access to surgery, and improve outcomes.

Role of arthroplasty in the Jehovah's Witness population

BACKGROUND

Total joint arthroplasties aim to improve quality of life from joint-related pain. Jehovah's Witnesses refuse blood products due to their religious beliefs. Surgeons may be reluctant to perform arthroplasty procedures on these patients for fear of uncontrolled bleeding. However, we hypothesize that through preoperative optimization, arthroplasty can be performed safely.

METHODS

We retrospectively reviewed 184 total joint arthroplasties in Jehovah's Witnesses between 2011 and 2019. Each patient was enrolled in the institutions' Bloodless Medicine program. Hemoglobin levels were recorded through standard laboratory testing while in the hospital. Primary outcomes were changes in preoperative and postoperative hemoglobin measures, short-term outcomes measures, and complications.

RESULTS

A total of 103 total knee arthroplasties (8 revisions) and 81 total hip arthroplasties (5 revisions) were performed. Hemoglobin drift was 2.5 ± 1.0 for primary TKA and 2.6 ± 1.3 for primary THA (p = 0.570). Hemoglobin drift was 1.9 ± 0.9 for revision TKA and 1.9 ± 0.2 for revision THA (p = 0.990). Only 2.7% of patients met the transfusion requirement of 7 g/dL. The major complication rate for the cohort was 1.6% systemic and 4.9% local, respectively, with no mortalities. The overall readmission rate was 2.7%.

CONCLUSION

To our knowledge, this is the largest reported sample of Jehovah's Witness patients undergoing total joint arthroplasty. Postoperative hemoglobin values did not prompt additional intervention in the overwhelming majority of patients, and complication rates were acceptable. Our data suggest that primary arthroplasty is safe in the Jehovah's Witness population. Additionally, we show preliminary evidence that revision arthroplasty is safe in Jehovah's Witness patients.