Toward the Turkish National Registry System: A Prevalence Study of Total Knee Arthroplasty in Turkey.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this pilot study was to analyze the data obtained from a retrospective examination of the records of the existing reimbursement system and through the identification of gaps in the data to create a foundation for a reliable, descriptive national registry system for our country.

METHODS: The Social Security Institution Medical Messenger (MEDULA) records were scanned for the years 2010-2014, and the numbers of total knee arthroplasty applied for a diagnosis of gonarthrosis and the numbers of revision knee arthroplasty were recorded for the country in general. The patients were classified according to age, gender, and bilateral or unilateral surgery. The institution where the surgery was applied, the geographic region and the province were also recorded.

RESULTS: A total of 283,400 primary and 9900 revision knee arthroplasty operations were applied in Turkey between 2010 and 2014. Numbers were recorded for each year, and there was found to be an increase between years. For primary knee arthroplasty, the female:male ratio was 67 of 33, and surgery was applied most often between the ages of 60-69 years. Both types of surgery were determined to have been applied most often in second-stage state hospitals. Geographically, both types of surgery were applied most in the Marmara region, with the highest frequency of primary knee arthroplasty in Istanbul and the highest frequency of revision surgery in Ankara.

CONCLUSIONS: The data obtained from this study will contribute to the creation of the basis for a National Registry System and thereby define more scientific treatment approaches.