Patient Demographics and Reported Outcomes in Funded versus Non-funded Studies Assessing Thromboprophylaxis after Total Joint Arthroplasty: A Systematic Review

Philadelphia, PA

Background: There are numerous studies discussing thromboprophylaxis after total joint arthroplasty (TJA), which have varying conclusions. The purpose of this study was to investigate if industry funding of the study impacted patient demographics and overall reported outcomes of studies evaluating venous thromboembolism (VTE) prophylaxis after TJA.

Methods: Electronic searches were completed for Ovid, PubMed, and Embase. Studies were included if: (1) published in the English language between 2000 and 2016 (2) including patients undergoing total hip arthroplasty (THA) or total knee arthroplasty (TKA) (3) evaluating prevention and control of VTE with at least one thromboprophylactic agent.

Results: There were 57 studies included in this systematic review. There was no overall drug effect between reporting outcomes, patient demographics, and level of funding. There were no significant differences between patient age, BMI, or revision exclusions between funded and non-funded studies. However, funded studies reported less pulmonary embolisms (PE) compared to non-funded studies. Funded studies also reported fewer events of major bleeding and less 90-day mortality than non-funded studies.

Conclusion: It appears that the reported outcome of studies evaluating a drug as prophylaxis against VTE differs depending on the status of funding. Studies funded by industry report better outcome with less PE, less major bleeding, and less mortality compared to non-funded studies.