Abstract
Periprosthetic joint infection (PJI) following revision total knee arthroplasty (TKA)
for aseptic failure is associated with poor outcomes, patient morbidity, and high
health care expenditures. The aim of this study was to develop novel machine learning
algorithms for the prediction of PJI following revision TKA for patients with aseptic
indications for revision surgery. A single-institution database consisting of 1,432
consecutive revision TKA patients with aseptic etiologies was retrospectively identified.
The patient cohort included 208 patients (14.5%) who underwent re-revision surgery
for PJI. Three machine learning algorithms (artificial neural networks, support vector
machines, k-nearest neighbors) were developed to predict this outcome and these models
were assessed by discrimination, calibration, and decision curve analysis. This is
a retrospective study. Among the three machine learning models, the neural network
model achieved the best performance across discrimination (area under the receiver
operating characteristic curve = 0.78), calibration, and decision curve analysis.
The strongest predictors for PJI following revision TKA for aseptic reasons were prior
open procedure prior to revision surgery, drug abuse, obesity, and diabetes. This
study utilized machine learning as a tool for the prediction of PJI following revision
TKA for aseptic failure with excellent performance. The validated machine learning
models can aid surgeons in patient-specific risk stratifying to assist in preoperative
counseling and clinical decision making for patients undergoing aseptic revision TKA.
Keywords
revision TKA - periprosthetic joint infection - machine learning - artificial intelligence