Preoperative optimization of modifiable risk factors for total hip and knee arthroplasty remains a foundational cornerstone in reducing postoperative complications and enhancing patient outcomes. With an increasing prevalence of high-risk comorbidities among total joint arthroplasty patients with morbid obesity (body mass index ≥40 kg/m2), uncontrolled diabetes (hemoglobin A1c ≥ 7.5%), and active smoking and tobacco use, many joint arthroplasty surgeons face complex ethical decisions when surgical intervention poses a higher risk for potential harm. Creating definitive numerical cutoffs may lead to access-to-care issues with a difficult balance between helping and harming patients.
Keywords: Bundled payment system; Diabetes mellitus; Ethics of surgical cutoffs; Morbid obesity; Postoperative complications; Preoperative optimization; Primary total hip arthroplasty; Primary total knee arthroplasty.
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